Sixers’ Andre Drummond and Adem Bona savor minutes behind Joel Embiid: ‘I never take it personal’

Andre Drummond prepares for each 76ers game with an identical routine. A weightlifting and running workout. A trip to the sauna. A meal of chicken and rice.

“The only thing that probably [will] change,” he told The Inquirer from his locker late Tuesday, “is I probably won’t take my warm-up pants off some games.”

Such repetition is beneficial in situations like this week, when Drummond faced about as drastic of a role shift as a player can experience from one night to the next. The veteran center did not play in Monday’s 113-104 Sixers victory over the Indiana Pacers, then started Tuesday’s 116-110 loss to the Phoenix Suns in place of the injury-managing Joel Embiid. Teammate Adem Bona, meanwhile, was the backup center in both games, but closed Tuesday’s matchup while the Sixers attempted a late rally against Phoenix.

Until that pecking order is more clear-cut, Sixers coach Nick Nurse said, those minutes and responsibilities for Drummond and Bona will continue to fluctuate from game-to-game, matchup-to-matchup and, sometimes, “moment-to-moment.” Halfway through the regular season, both big men are now used to the shifts.

“We’re both professionals at the end of the day,” Drummond said. “Whenever our number is called and whatever we’re needed for, I think we’ve both done a good job of being prepared and being ready for what’s to come.”

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This back-to-back did arrive with some ahead-of-time clarity. Though Embiid has significantly progressed in his availability following multiple knee surgeries, he still will not play two consecutive nights. Nurse said last week that, in most cases, he would prefer to start the 6-foot-11, 289-pound Drummond in the games Embiid misses. Opponents tend to go small with their backup big man, the coach concluded, which lends itself to a matchup with the athletic 6-foot-10 Bona.

That was how Tuesday unfolded. With a fresher body than teammates who played Monday, Drummond (eight points) said he attempted to set the tone with 15 rebounds — including six in the first quarter — that sometimes led to putbacks and kick-outs for three-pointers.

Bona, meanwhile, recorded his first double-double of the season, with 11 points and 10 rebounds. And after the Sixers fell behind by 17 points during a disastrous second-half stretch — which was stamped with defensive and rebounding woes — Bona reentered. He totaled two blocks in less than nine fourth-quarter minutes, including one that led to a Tyrese Maxey three-pointer to cut into Phoenix’s lead. He also recorded four rebounds during that same stretch, including a putback off a VJ Edgecombe miss that got the Sixers within 112-105 with 3:23 remaining.

“We needed a little spark of energy,” Bona said, “so that was why Coach put me back in there.”

Added Nurse: “I probably wouldn’t do anything different there.”

Such pivots are helped by the fact that Drummond and Bona have been tight since they became teammates during the 2024 offseason.

They will double high-five like soccer players when they replace each other in the lineup. They can hear each other’s vocal support from the bench. Bona, who regularly unleashes a scream or flex after a high-flying dunk or block, said Drummond has helped him not get overly emotional about mistakes.

“Just having someone like that, making it easier for you to just step into the role,” said Bona, who is averaging 4.2 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks in 17.1 minutes across 33 games this season, “you’re never worried about if the other person is [ticked] or anything.”

Added Drummond: “He’s been seizing the opportunity, and I’m really happy for him.”

Those players have taken vastly different paths to reach this platoon in their second season together.

Drummond, once a two-time All-Star and one of the best rebounders of all time, was plagued last season by turf toe that he still manages by stepping onto an acupressure mat with replica pebble stones that press into the bottoms of his feet. Bona began his rookie season as a deep reserve who spent time in the G League, before impressing as a rim protector and lob threat while sliding into the starting job when the Sixers transitioned into tank mode.

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Though Bona won the backup job out of this fall’s training camp, both players had appeared to take control of that spot at various points this season. Yet even when Nurse makes a switch in the middle of the game, Bona said he “never” worries about being replaced if he stumbles during one of his stints.

“I know Coach is going to do what’s best for the team,” he said. “I don’t think I’m going to play a certain type of way to please Coach so I stay on the floor. I just go out there and give my all-out effort all the time, and whatever fits the matchup or the game at the moment, I trust Coach is going to do that.”

Those players’ differing styles and strengths, though, slightly change how teammates such as forward Jabari Walker play alongside them.

Walker drifts out to the perimeter more frequently when Drummond is on the floor, he said, because Drummond takes up more space underneath the basket and will never pop out of a pick-and-roll. Bona’s presence allows Walker to be more aggressive defensively, because they can both switch on screens and Bona is a reliable rim protector.

“It’s never a bad thing,” Walker said last week. “ ... They’ve done such a great job of just staying engaged and knowing that they’re both important to what our team needs. That’s all we can ask from them.”

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Another frontcourt personnel wrinkle? Nurse has experimented with sliding Bona into that power forward spot next to Embiid. That duo had a plus-17.5 net rating in 40 minutes across six games entering Wednesday. Bona said learning how to play consistently in that look — where offensive spacing is crucial, and going for every blocked shot is not necessary with Embiid as a defensive anchor — is an immediate and long-term personal goal.

“[A player] should just be trying to figure out any way possible to get on the floor,” Nurse said. “And I think that’s more [Bona’s] mindset of, ‘Listen, if Joel’s healthy, he’s probably going to play a lot at the 5 [center]. So what else can I do to get some more minutes? And playing alongside him is obviously the answer to that.”

Bona and Drummond, whose $5 million expiring contract also makes him a player to watch entering the Feb. 5 trade deadline, are not the only Sixers navigating uncertain playing time.

Justin Edwards on Tuesday returned to the first-half rotation, before Trendon Watford received second-half minutes. Before that game, Nurse said the coaching staff is considering inserting guard Quentin Grimes into the starting lineup to try to jumpstart the guard. With Kelly Oubre Jr. rounding back into form following a knee injury, a decision could loom about starting him or Dominick Barlow. Jared McCain has completely slipped out of the rotation, and was sent on a G League assignment over the weekend.

And any time Drummond needs a mental boost throughout the uncertainty, he can glance at his right hand.

There, “DON’T QUIT” is tattooed in block letters. The placement is intentional, because “any time I put my head down, I normally see that first.” So is the message. After “doubting myself a little bit” during last season’s struggles to stay healthy and produce, Drummond decided to get the ink when he returned to Philly for the start of training camp.

“I needed to find a new way to get motivated again,” he said. “… That was my dedication to myself to not give up.”

No matter the role, which right now can shift drastically from one night to the next.

“I never take it personal,” Drummond said. “At the end of the day, I want to see everybody succeed …

“[I need to] continue to be the player that I am. Being a good locker room guy. Being ready when my number’s called. And being a great teammate.”