Getty LeBron James & Andre Drummond of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Over the years, LeBron James has been a fan of giving teammates nicknames. He recently dubbed Dennis Schroder as “Dennis The Menace” and that appears to have stuck. He now has a nickname for another Los Angeles Lakers teammate.
Andre Drummond’s most popular nickname has been “The Big Penguin,” which was also coined by LeBron due to the big man’s love of penguins. It now appears that the Lakers superstar has moved on and is giving Drummond a new nickname. LeBron labeled the center as “Drum Dog Millionaire,” which is a play on the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire.
🚨 NEW LEBRON NICKNAME 🚨
This is some of LeBron’s better work. “Drum Dog Millionaire” has a solid ring to it. It’s certainly better than “The Big Penguin.” Time will tell if this one sticks though. LeBron has a tendency to fall in and out of love with nicknames rather quickly.
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LeBron Praised Drummond After Game 2 Win
Drummond’s first playoff game as a Laker left a lot to be desired. He only scored 12 points and had a minus-four plus/minus. He improved drastically in Game 2 as he scored 15 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and had a plus-five plus/minus. LeBron was impressed with how Dennis Schroder and Drummond stepped up in Game 2.
“Dennis was in attack mode from the very beginning,” LeBron said after the game. “He lived in the paint, and when they sagged off, he hit shots from the perimeter, as well from the 3 and from the mid-range. But he just stayed in attack mode.
“And I thought Big Dre was amazing in the minutes he had, both in the offensive rebounding from the beginning of the game, to find his way offensively from dump downs. He got the ball in the post a couple times, made some great moves. He was just very decisive with his play tonight. …
“But we needed that effort out of both of them.”
Drummond was a key addition the Lakers made during the season but he has yet to be a consistent impact player. If he plays as well as he did in Game 2 for the rest of the playoffs, Los Angeles is going to be very difficult to beat.
Drummond Discusses Role With Lakers
The biggest issue Drummond has had is the fact that he hasn’t played many games with LeBron and Anthony Davis. It’s clear that he doesn’t have a ton of chemistry with those two quite yet. He knows that he needs to work well with those two if the Lakers are going to get far.
“For me, it was just finding my role and finding my niche for this team, and it’s to be the aggressor, be the bodyguard for those two guys, for LeBron and AD, and just making sure that all the dirty work is getting done,” Drummond said after Game 2.
Drummond understands his role on the team as the third or fourth option. Throughout his career, he’s been the No. 1 or No. 2 option. It’s been an adjustment but it appears he’s willing to take on the lesser role if it means he wins a championship in the end.
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