Bynum looking to prove he is slowest healer of all time, says return may be December

[duncan228]

Andrew Bynum looking to prove he is slowest healer of all time, says return may be December (http://probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/10/andrew-bynum-looking-to-prove-he-is-slowest-healer-of-all-time-says-return-may-be-december.php)
By Kurt Helin

Andrew Bynum is one guy on the Lakers without a filter. Yes, that includes Ron Artest -- Ron-Ron can be a little stream of consciousness, but Bynum is the one who just says what he is thinking and does not just use a cliché.

Right now, he is thinking he could be out for a while. Like December.

The man simply does not heal quickly and so he is honest about his timetable for coming back --and it is longer than anyone thought. That is what he told Mike Bresnahan of the LA Times while in London (http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/lakers/la-sp-lakers-20101004,0,2656097,full.story).


Bynum said Sunday he might not be back until December.

"Yeah, it's a possibility," he said. "I've got a little bit of pain still. It just depends on when I'm cleared."

Bynum said he would see his doctor in three weeks and hoped to begin weight-bearing exercises after that. He had knee surgery in late July.

Lest you think that isn't creating some tension around the Lakers, here is what Phil Jackson said (and remember Jackson balked when Bynum said late November for a return last week).


"He's been saying that," Jackson said. "I don't know why he's talking about December. He can get weight-bearing activities started at the end of this month. Can you play in two weeks [after that]? Can you play in three weeks? Four weeks puts you at the end of November. So let's just let it happen and not talk about what the timing is."

Bynum had knee surgery in July, surgery that ended up being more complex than expected when he went in.

Bynum also heals slowly. If there is one thing evident from his series of injuries, the man just simply does not bounce back. Attribute that to genetics, mental toughness, the water at Staples Center, whatever you want. It doesn't change the fact.

Intellectually, Lakers management and fans know that when the really need Bynum is May not November, therefore let him take his time is get right. But Bynum can be frustrating and is pushing back time frames, dampening expectations already. It's not how anyone in Los Angeles wanted to enter the season.

[NRHector]

Lakers making excuses already

[BadOdor]

f u bynum.

[FalleNxWiZarDx]

kobe ran into his knee for crying out loud...

give him a brake

[Ditty]

non-issue :sleep

[z0sa]

kobe ran into his knee for crying out loud...

give him a brake

If only Kobe's leg would have

[Ace]

Lol

[Giuseppe]

He got in-turn Howard & Perkins into the dirt.

[duncan228]

The Works: Andrew Bynum Creation Myth; J.R. Smith-Kevin Durant Spectrum (http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/07/the-works-andrew-bynum-creation-myth-j-r-smith-kevin/)
By Bethlehem Shoals and Tom Ziller

...But first, a thesis on how Phil Jackson (and Kobe Bryant) created a monster named Andrew Bynum.

L'Enfant Terrible

Phil Jackson, upset with Andrew Bynum's lengthening timetable for recovery from knee surgery, has announced to the world that Bynum, a would-be star making eight figures, perhaps ought to be a situational, short-minutes player (http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/06/sports/la-sp-lakers-20101007/2) ... like Yao Ming. It might be the closest Phil's ever come to flipping the bird at one of his players, and it tells of a real, potentially Shaq-like disconnect between the legendary coach and the ingenue.

It's a truly absurd suggestion; the only reason Jackson made it was to get additional press for his displeasure with Bynum and to get Bynum's blood going. This is the Zen Master, after all. He knows exactly what he's doing. But while "what he's doing" may help the Lakers this season by booting Bynum into gear, and while it certainly will help Jackson's already rock-solid reputation as a brilliant motivator, are these tactics counter to the long-term interests of the Lakers?

Bynum, after all, is about to turn 23 years old. The Lakers' core is much, much older, with Kobe Bryant already 32, Pau Gasol 30, Ron Artest and Lamar Odom both nearly 31. You can win into your 30s -- the Celtics have helped prove that. But no one counts Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce as the "future" of the Celtics; that's Rajon Rondo. Bynum is L.A.'s Rondo, the hope that the team won't fall off the face of the Earth when the aging superstars do.

Needless to say, "futures of franchises" don't play short minutes. Jackson's threat is completely disingenuous; Phil's smart, and knows as well as anybody his team is much better with Bynum in the starting five. Last year, is the perfect example -- L.A. was a decent playoff team without Bynum, and an all-out destroyer with him. Jackson knows he needs Bynum to make a title defense run; otherwise, why would he care so much about what essentially comes down to an extra week or two Bynum thinks he needs in recovery? You don't see Jackson threatening Luke Walton, after all.

The question behind all the bluster has nothing to do about Bynum's value or Jackson's sincerity, though. It is whether Bynum is actually dragging his feet, and if so, where he learned it from. Far be it from me to blame Shaquille O'Neal for something a disciple is pulling, but this is straight out of the Most Dominant Ever's playbook. Waiting until mid-summer to have surgery in order to get some solid vacation in first is actually something Shaq did as a Laker. For Bynum, it's a copy-cat crime.

Most important about Shaq's tricks is that they were accepted by Jackson, who tried (in vain) to keep the peace between O'Neal and Kobe, all in the name of winning. Jackson granted O'Neal remarkable leeway in the early '00s, to the point of Kobe becoming furious at the lack of commitment, and resulting in not only Shaq being shoved out of town by Kobe, but in Jackson retiring in 2004. Bynum was 16 years old, young and impressionable, when all this went down as the biggest story in sports.

But later, when it suited his purpose, Jackson catered to Kobe's unsavory behavior. When Kobe took to a parking lot and ripped a young Bynum on video, Jackson was quiet. Why? Because Phil agreed -- Jackson wanted Kobe to get another star as badly as Bryant himself did. Phil values winning, and had particular interest in contending for a championship back when he was behind Red Auerbach in 2007. In silence, and by bowing to Kobe throughout training camp in '07, Jackson condoned the behavior.

You think Bynum didn't see that, too? He and Kobe may be best friends now, but under Phil Jackson, Bynum has learned that as long as you win, nothing else matters. And won they have, with two straight titles and huge victory totals. Jackson has taught Jackson to value the end, not the means. Training camp, November basketball -- that's not the end. April, May and June are. So if Jackson's disappointed in Bynum's selfish delay, he's only got himself to blame. (TZ)

[lefty]

Hof

[TDMVPDPOY]

shouldve traded him imo

[lefty]

shouldve traded him imo
They still can trade him for Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo

[TheMACHINE]

They still can trade him for Marc Gasol and OJ Mayo

this

[sefant77]

He got rings and his payday, what else does he need?

Now he has more time for his cars...

[DeadlyDynasty]

He got rings and his payday, what else does he need?

Now he has more time for his cars...

http://automobilesdeluxe.tv/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/jay-leno.jpg

[TD 21]

It's not like Jackson or Bryant, but at some point (and I think we may be at that point), the Lakers are going to have pull a Spurs when it comes to the regular season and basically just coast through it on cruise control. Bryant and Fisher are too damn old, Bynum is too damn injury prone and Gasol, Odom and Artest aren't exactly spring chickens.

And I'm not just talking about letting the Heat have the best record in the league. Try as they might, even at full strength, the Heat would probably have a better record anyway. I'm talking about potentially ceding top seed in the West if it means as close to optimum health as possibly by playoff time.

I'm not going to predict it, because I think it's more unlikely than likely, but I wouldn't be shocked by any stretch if the Spurs finish with a better regular season record than the Lakers. The Spurs are now the team with a cadre of young, fresh legs and myriad scoring options and the Lakers are now the team with old, brittle players and one dimensional role players.

If the Lakers do take it easy in the regular season, they're going to lose a lot of games, because they don't have role players who are good enough to carry them for an occasional game here and there. They should have lost a lot more last season, only Bryant bailed them out (and got bailed out by the refs on many of those occasions). This season, I think that catches up to them.

[21_Blessings]

It's not like Jackson or Bryant, but at some point (and I think we may be at that point), the Lakers are going to have pull a Spurs when it comes to the regular season and basically just coast through it on cruise control. Bryant and Fisher are too damn old, Bynum is too damn injury prone and Gasol, Odom and Artest aren't exactly spring chickens.

And I'm not just talking about letting the Heat have the best record in the league. Try as they might, even at full strength, the Heat would probably have a better record anyway. I'm talking about potentially ceding top seed in the West if it means as close to optimum health as possibly by playoff time.

Kobe, Pau, Ron and Bynum were all hurt at one point last season and the Lakers still took the West 1 seed and then steamrolled right through into finals with relative ease. Bynum getting a meaningless November off = the NBA is fucked come April-June.

Seeding in the Western Conference is the least of the Lakers worries. It's not like any WC team can realistically challenge the Lakers in a 7 game series.
I mean come on now, don't make me laugh.

[Giuseppe]

I'm not going to predict it, because I think it's more unlikely than likely, but I wouldn't be shocked by any stretch if the Spurs finish with a better regular season record than the Lakers.

Well, pish posh.

[BlackSwordsMan]

lakers are an all star team without bynum and kobe
non issue

[Ashy Larry]

Kobe, Pau, Ron and Bynum were all hurt at one point last season and the Lakers still took the West 1 seed and then steamrolled right through into finals with relative ease. Bynum getting a meaningless November off = the NBA is fucked come April-June.

Seeding in the Western Conference is the least of the Lakers worries. It's not like any WC team can realistically challenge the Lakers in a 7 game series.
I mean come on now, don't make me laugh.


:lol

[narmerguy]

Kobe, Pau, Ron and Bynum were all hurt at one point last season and the Lakers still took the West 1 seed and then steamrolled right through into finals with relative ease. Bynum getting a meaningless November off = the NBA is fucked come April-June.

Seeding in the Western Conference is the least of the Lakers worries. It's not like any WC team can realistically challenge the Lakers in a 7 game series.
I mean come on now, don't make me laugh.

Clearly someone didn't watch the playoffs.

[Venti Quattro]

non-issue. Just be healthy during the playoffs big man

[Ashy Larry]

that's all I ask .... be healthy for the playoffs... I can't hate on the dude because he played on that knee for 15 of the 16 playoff games ...... titles aren't won in November. If they were, Cleveland would have two. By the way, where's Joe Tait?