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The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Detroit Pistons on Friday night for their final matchup of the preseason. As expected, the Sixers played without a handful of key players as they've either received rest or sat out with a minor setback.

Sixers starting center Joel Embiid was among those who were ruled out. Therefore, the veteran center Andre Drummond got the nod to start for the second time this preseason after making his Sixers debut in the starting lineup.

For Drummond, Friday night was a homecoming. When the former UConn star entered the NBA as the ninth-overall pick during the 2012 NBA Draft, Drummond was selected by the Detroit Pistons.

He spent the first eight years of his career playing for the Pistons. During that time, he was a two-time All-Star, selected to the NBA All-Third Team, and led the league in rebounds for four seasons. Eventually, Drummond found himself traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After short stints in Cleveland and Los Angeles, Drummond is looking to bounce back with the Sixers.

So, he got another shot to showcase the Sixers version of Andre Drummond on Friday night, but first, he was greeted with boos by the crowd that used to root hard for the former two-time All-Star big man.

"At the end of the day, it's basketball," said Drummond, according to Ky Carlin of the Sixers Wire. "They're sports fans here. They're not gonna cheer for the opposing team. No love lost here. I still love Detroit. At the end of the day, I'm still gonna talk positively about the city. It doesn't affect me in any way. It's a basketball game."

While hearing the negative reaction come from fans that used to cheer for him could've been a difficult pill to swallow, hearing boos, in general, was nothing unusual to Drummond. After all, he's a professional athlete.

"I've been booed plenty of times, he explained. "It's not gonna affect me in any way. I enjoy it. I don't really use that kind of stuff. I'm playing for 10 years. I've been booed and 'F you'd plenty of times, so it's nothing new."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.