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Pistons' Andre Drummond replaces injured John Wall of Wizards for All-Star Game

NBA, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Team LeBron LeBron

Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond will replace Washington Wizards guard John Wall on Team LeBron in the 2018 All-Star Game. 

Wall, an All-Star for the fifth consecutive season, will be out with a left knee injury. He was selected as a reserve and picked by team captain LeBron James. 

It will be Drummond's second All-Star nod in his career.  He is averaging an NBA-leading and career-high 15.1 rebounds per game to go with 14.7 points, a career-high 3.8 assists, a career-high 1.54 steals and 1.37 blocked shots.

After scoring 21 points, grabbing 22 rebounds and dishing out seven assists in Tuesday's 125-114 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, Drummond gave his mom a big hug as he walked off the floor to celebrate with teammates.

"My main focus is just to win the basketball game today," Drummond said. "Obviously, it's great news, but I can't get too excited. I still got to worry about the game first, but now that the game's over, I'm definitely excited.

"I'm more excited for my mom, because she was definitely looking forward to going to L.A., and it kind of hurt that we didn't get it [initially]. Now that we're going [it's] definitely all smiles."

Drummond said that James came up to him before the game to congratulate him and welcome him to the team.

Newly acquired Pistons forward Blake Griffin tweeted out his congratulations for Drummond. 

Drummond expressed excitement in Griffin's arrival and all the possibilities that come with it.

"It's a new chapter. We've got three new guys coming in, so it's something to really look forward to," Drummond said, referring to Griffin as well as Brice Johnson and Willie Reed, who also were part of the trade. "Obviously, Blake is a hell of a player, a great passer as well, too, so I'm looking forward to building this new empire with him."

Drummond's selection was made by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who chooses replacements from the same conference as the player being replaced. Drummond received the most votes from NBA coaches among Eastern Conference players who had not been selected as reserves. 

The All-Star Game will take place on Feb. 18 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. 

ESPN's Nick Friedell and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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