Cleveland Cavaliers center Andre Drummond became the latest to donate in a huge way in regards to relief efforts combating the novel coronavirus pandemic, giving $160,000. Plus, he also recently joined with JBL to donate 10,000 headphones to schools in the Detroit and Cleveland area.
Players on the Cleveland Cavaliers have clearly done their part in helping the surrounding community during this ever-difficult time. The NBA season is on hiatus until further notice in regards to the novel coronavirus pandemic and it’s unclear if the current year will eventually play out or not.
The Athletic‘s Sam Amick reported on Thursday (subscription required) that “optimism is growing” for a season resumption, though. Anyhow, in terms of a Friday update, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that beginning on May 15, the league and the NBPA agreed that 25 percent of players’ compensation will be withheld and if the Force Majeure provision is enacted, a gradual decrease in salary would happen if regular season games are canceled.
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What has been really nice to see during this time in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, though, has been players on the Cavaliers stepping up to help the surrounding communities.
Kevin Love seemingly started a terrific trend when it comes to NBA players, as he donated $100,000 through his fund to help compensate Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse employees/game event staff that were affected by the season’s suspension.
Additionally, Larry Nance Jr. donated $50,000 to each of the Greater Cleveland and Akron-Canton Regional Food Banks, and Cleveland head coach J.B. Bickerstaff made a significant donation to both the Greater Cleveland Food Bank and Children’s Hunger Alliance, of which the Cavs matched both.
Also, the Cavaliers participated in a telethon earlier this month to aid relief efforts and thank those fighting the COVID-19 pandemic on the frontlines, and the telethon raised over $155,000 for the United Way of Greater Cleveland and the Greater Cleveland Food Bank, according to a team release.
Sticking to the script of helping others during this unprecedented time, per a report from ESPN’s Eric Woodyard (and was h/t Bleacher Report’s Mike Chiari), Andre Drummond recently partnered with JBL Audio to donate 10,000 pairs of headphones to Detroit and Cleveland area schools.
Drummond has also worked alongside @JBLaudio to donate more than 10,000 headphones to schools in the Cleveland and Detroit area to help students impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and will go directly to supporting virtual online classes and free streaming music lessons.
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 17, 2020
That was to ensure students could be aided in online classes and for music-related learning, and it’s evident that Drummond has been one of those model “community leaders” among athletes, which Love has previously called for during a very tough time for everybody.
Plus, Woodyard reported that Drummond will Drummond will be donating “$60,000 to the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse staff.”
From there, Drummond will be donating “$100,000 to Middlesex Health’s Emergency Response Fund, which helps fund personal protective equipment for staff, oxygen for patients and other necessary supplies.”
As Woodyard then touched on, Drummond was so grateful for Detroit, Cleveland and Middletown (as in Connecticut), and Drummond thanked the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse employees for making him essentially feel at home right away here in Cleveland after Drummond was acquired by the Cavs from the Detroit Pistons near the 2020 trade deadline.
Andre Drummond to ESPN: “Detroit, Cleveland and Middletown; have all been places that I call home. Each city holds a place in my heart and I want to take care of the people who have given me so much over the years.”
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 17, 2020
Drummond ctd: “The employees at Rocket Mortgage helped me transition to Cleveland; they took care of me the moment I stepped into the arena; this was my chance to return the favor. Frontline workers across the country need our support now more than ever.“
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) April 17, 2020
This was amazing to see from Drummond, who seems like such a great guy, and exemplary locker room presence.
In addition, Drummond, who competed in a prior ESPN NBA 2K20 tournament, as KJG’s Billy Beebe hit on, will be participating in a Fortnite tournament on Friday. That will be featuring other athletes such as Cleveland Browns wideout Jarvis Landry, Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey and Bryson DeChambeau of the PGA, among others.
The tournament, which will be on Friday and stream on (as others involving other games such as Valorant will) Facebook Gaming at fb.gg/FacebookGaming, is as h/t Bleacher Report’s Scott Polacek, the first installment of a #PlayApartTogether tourney, which is related to the “World Health Organization’s #PlayApartTogether movement and sponsored by State Farm and Alienware.”
The tournaments each week, which will going forward be on Thursday nights, as Polacek noted, will help raise funding for COVID-19 relief efforts, and competing athletes will each week be competing to donate $25,000 to their preferred charity.
Shifting to an on-floor perspective, Drummond has had some struggles fitting in with the Cleveland Cavaliers at times early on, but going into the NBA’s season suspension, Drummond has still at least had 17.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.4 blocks per outing in eight games active for Cleveland.
He was sidelined a fair amount due to a left calf injury, but his chemistry leading into the season’s suspension seemed to be building alongside pieces such as Collin Sexton, Love, and others.
At this juncture, we aren’t totally sure yet if Drummond will opt into his $28.8 million player option for next season, but according to a recent report from Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, that is likely to be the case, and Fedor said in a recent mailbag set of responses that the Cavs are basically in no hurry to trade Kevin Love, who they still view as a “valuable piece,” of which you can view more about here.
Granted, back near the deadline, a former NBA general manager told Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz that he doesn’t see Drummond being around long and that even if he Drummond opts in, he could still be dealt shortly thereafter, or even Drummond could feasibly sign a long-term extension and agree to a sign-and-trade.
Either way, I’d expect the Cleveland Cavaliers to want to see the Love-Drummond duo have more time together on the floor, and it’s unclear if we will this season. Could Drummond still be a candidate to be traded down the road, especially as an expiring piece if he opts in for next season?
I would absolutely think so, but I’d still think the Cavs would want to see his fit alongside Love, Sexton and others in more game action, though.
What is certain, however, is that Drummond seems like an incredible fit from an intangibles standpoint, based on how his teammates and the coaching staff have praised him from an on and off-floor perspective, along with Cavs general manager Koby Altman. These such generous donations indicate Drummond’s always going to make a difference for others off the floor, too.
Thanks so much for helping so many people, Dre!