duncan228
10-22-2008, 01:55 PM
Happy 21st birthday Andrew Bynum (http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bynum-season-lakers-2201202-basketball-contract)
Ding column: Now go out and make yourself into a basketball legend.
Kevin Ding
EL SEGUNDO-This is the week that Andrew Bynum turns 21, and he cannot wait.
His big brother is planning a landmark party that promises surprise celebrity guests to go with all of Bynum’s childhood friends coming to town. (The bash has wisely been moved up to Sunday instead of being staged on Bynum’s actual birthday, which is the eve of the regular-season opener. You can be sure the big kid will need a little post-party recovery time.)
This is the year that Bynum was also supposed to move out of his house and away from his mommy. That plan has stalled – in part because Bynum loves the six-bedroom, five-bathroom house he bought near Loyola Marymount as a rookie in 2005, in part because Bynum loves his mommy.
But the biggest reason that Bynum isn’t taking advantage of this buyer-friendly real-estate market is that he needs to wait and see if he is getting a colossal contract extension that would significantly alter his mortgage pre-approval letter.
If no deal gets done by Oct. 31, then the Lakers and Bynum can’t negotiate again until after the season. That’s a real deadline to sweat, especially considering the continental divide of the Lakers looking to pay $10-to-12 million annually and Bynum’s agent seeking $17 million annually.
But ask Bynum about the upcoming dates – the birthday party, the regular-season opener, the contract deadline – and it becomes clear as the ocean and city views from Bynum’s rooftop deck where his priorities lie.
Basketball comes first. He can’t wait to get what he expects will be a “strange” season-opening game against Portland (and another rising star center in Greg Oden) out of the way after not having played a real game since his knee gave out in January. Bynum’s passion for the game is categorically underrated, and he wants nothing more than to get back to building his basketball legend.
He is pretty keyed up about the birthday party and seeing his friends, too. But the contract? Not so much.
“I don’t really care, man,” he said Monday. “I just want to come out and play basketball. That’s all I really want to do.”
Lakers coach Phil Jackson praised Bynum for being able to ignore the possible distraction of his contract, taking a break from his usual public nitpicking of Bynum’s every shortcoming. (Even though Bynum rarely reads his press clippings, Jackson is well aware that reporters will tote “Phil said …” remarks over and ask Bynum about them, putting some useful public pressure on the Lakers’ prized prospect.)
Even the coaching staff hasn’t been able to complain about Bynum in the past week as he has elevated his level of intensity throughout practice. For the record, though, Bynum quietly soldiered on through the scare of some swelling in his surgically repaired left knee a week ago and a lung-clogging bout with the flu before that.
Once Bynum realized in his second NBA season that greatness in this game wasn’t going to come easy, he immediately moved to work hard. Losing 20 pounds of muscle mass during his draining 2006-07 season sold him on getting serious about his craft before last season. (Seeing the movie “Super Size Me” also helped get Bynum out of the McDonald’s drive-thru lane.)
Another reason Bynum loves his current home is he loves his current home gym, where he can get in his 8 a.m. personal workouts before going to Lakers practice. Jackson has actually expressed concerns that Bynum is too committed to his training regimen at the expense of more time on the court.
But Bynum is still learning a lot from Lakers assistant coaches Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis. And before he returned to Los Angeles on Sept. 1, Bynum spent a month and a half training in Atlanta, doing on-court work with former NBAer Gerald Wilkins – just like the previous summer.
Bynum’s personal trainer, Sean Zarzana, said the summer points of basketball emphasis were: lateral movement for hedging and getting back in pick-and-roll defense (a specific Jackson request), closing out on shooters with a hand up, controlled shot-blocking to direct the ball to an outlet man and sprinting immediately out in transition, developing a 15-foot jumper and refining an array of back-to-the-basket power moves using one or two dribbles.
For six hours a day, six days a week, Bynum pushed himself and his career forward in the offseason. He didn’t just rehab his knee, he strengthened his whole body to striking effect.
And as hulking as he’s beginning to look in the arms and chest, Bynum actually devoted more time to what they call the “non-mirror muscles” of the back and shoulders.
This is the season that it all comes together for Bynum. And that’s why he is completely cool with it if contract negotiations get put off until after the season.
In Bynum’s mind, the basketball should come first anyway.
“If I go out and play the way I’m supposed to,” he said, “it’ll take care of itself.”
Ding column: Now go out and make yourself into a basketball legend.
Kevin Ding
EL SEGUNDO-This is the week that Andrew Bynum turns 21, and he cannot wait.
His big brother is planning a landmark party that promises surprise celebrity guests to go with all of Bynum’s childhood friends coming to town. (The bash has wisely been moved up to Sunday instead of being staged on Bynum’s actual birthday, which is the eve of the regular-season opener. You can be sure the big kid will need a little post-party recovery time.)
This is the year that Bynum was also supposed to move out of his house and away from his mommy. That plan has stalled – in part because Bynum loves the six-bedroom, five-bathroom house he bought near Loyola Marymount as a rookie in 2005, in part because Bynum loves his mommy.
But the biggest reason that Bynum isn’t taking advantage of this buyer-friendly real-estate market is that he needs to wait and see if he is getting a colossal contract extension that would significantly alter his mortgage pre-approval letter.
If no deal gets done by Oct. 31, then the Lakers and Bynum can’t negotiate again until after the season. That’s a real deadline to sweat, especially considering the continental divide of the Lakers looking to pay $10-to-12 million annually and Bynum’s agent seeking $17 million annually.
But ask Bynum about the upcoming dates – the birthday party, the regular-season opener, the contract deadline – and it becomes clear as the ocean and city views from Bynum’s rooftop deck where his priorities lie.
Basketball comes first. He can’t wait to get what he expects will be a “strange” season-opening game against Portland (and another rising star center in Greg Oden) out of the way after not having played a real game since his knee gave out in January. Bynum’s passion for the game is categorically underrated, and he wants nothing more than to get back to building his basketball legend.
He is pretty keyed up about the birthday party and seeing his friends, too. But the contract? Not so much.
“I don’t really care, man,” he said Monday. “I just want to come out and play basketball. That’s all I really want to do.”
Lakers coach Phil Jackson praised Bynum for being able to ignore the possible distraction of his contract, taking a break from his usual public nitpicking of Bynum’s every shortcoming. (Even though Bynum rarely reads his press clippings, Jackson is well aware that reporters will tote “Phil said …” remarks over and ask Bynum about them, putting some useful public pressure on the Lakers’ prized prospect.)
Even the coaching staff hasn’t been able to complain about Bynum in the past week as he has elevated his level of intensity throughout practice. For the record, though, Bynum quietly soldiered on through the scare of some swelling in his surgically repaired left knee a week ago and a lung-clogging bout with the flu before that.
Once Bynum realized in his second NBA season that greatness in this game wasn’t going to come easy, he immediately moved to work hard. Losing 20 pounds of muscle mass during his draining 2006-07 season sold him on getting serious about his craft before last season. (Seeing the movie “Super Size Me” also helped get Bynum out of the McDonald’s drive-thru lane.)
Another reason Bynum loves his current home is he loves his current home gym, where he can get in his 8 a.m. personal workouts before going to Lakers practice. Jackson has actually expressed concerns that Bynum is too committed to his training regimen at the expense of more time on the court.
But Bynum is still learning a lot from Lakers assistant coaches Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Kurt Rambis. And before he returned to Los Angeles on Sept. 1, Bynum spent a month and a half training in Atlanta, doing on-court work with former NBAer Gerald Wilkins – just like the previous summer.
Bynum’s personal trainer, Sean Zarzana, said the summer points of basketball emphasis were: lateral movement for hedging and getting back in pick-and-roll defense (a specific Jackson request), closing out on shooters with a hand up, controlled shot-blocking to direct the ball to an outlet man and sprinting immediately out in transition, developing a 15-foot jumper and refining an array of back-to-the-basket power moves using one or two dribbles.
For six hours a day, six days a week, Bynum pushed himself and his career forward in the offseason. He didn’t just rehab his knee, he strengthened his whole body to striking effect.
And as hulking as he’s beginning to look in the arms and chest, Bynum actually devoted more time to what they call the “non-mirror muscles” of the back and shoulders.
This is the season that it all comes together for Bynum. And that’s why he is completely cool with it if contract negotiations get put off until after the season.
In Bynum’s mind, the basketball should come first anyway.
“If I go out and play the way I’m supposed to,” he said, “it’ll take care of itself.”