It has been three days since bad news broke that Pistons rookie Andre Drummond will miss 4-6 weeks with a stress fracture to his fifth lumbar vertebra and a less serious injury to the other side of his tailbone. Drummond is expected to make a full recovery. He will wear a brace for a few days (he may already be out of it by today) and is not allowed to sit for long periods. When his pain subsides, he will be allowed to begin exercising in an effort to improve his muscle stability.
The Pistons are an exciting 2-0 since, but that's just a small sampled consolation to the concerning setback to the Pistons and their emerging star. With the addition of Jose Calderon and a gradual increase to Drummond's minutes, the Pistons were in business to make a serious playoff push as Drummond continued to turn heads. Now, in conjunction with the Celtics' recent bizarre winning streak, the playoffs seem far out of sight.
As hard as the injury is for fans to bear, imagine how tough it must be for the rookie [quotes via MLIVE]:
"This is my life, this is all I know. So not being able to play, of course, it sucks."
But with the help of his teammates and a naturally upbeat personality, Drummond knows there's nothing else for him to do but move forward:
"But I've got to move forward," Drummond said Saturday, in his first public remarks about the injury. [...]
"Go to every practice and go to every game and watch the games, just stay engaged with everything," he said when asked his approach on how to keep pace with his developing team.
"Just get healthy, push yourself," he said. "Some of these guys have been through injuries already so they know what it's like. For me, being a rookie and happening to me so early, they just give encouragement to me and tell me to stay strong."
Lawrence Frank agrees, and adds there's still a lot Drummond can learn while he's on the mend [quotes via Freep]:
"Right now his job is to get healthy," Frank said. "That's his job. [...]
Frank said the coaching staff will make a point to keep Drummond involved, showing him game film and letting him learn by watching.
"He gets a chance to look at the game in a different way, and I think he's already noticed some things," Frank said. "You turn every negative into a positive, and you get better intellectually and physically when you're injured."
Hopefully, Drummond returns for the last leg of the season, healthy as ever and not missing a beat.