Over/under on how many cheeseburgers Bynum ate this offseason [Archive]

21_Blessings

12-02-2011, 01:59 PM

link (http://www.ocregister.com/sports/bynum-329621-lakers-body.html)

Dwight Howard to the Lakers! Dwight Howard!! To the Lakers!!!

The NBA lockout ends, and we go from lamenting what isn't, skip right past what is ... and dive right into what isn't again. (At least isn't yet.)

Yet if we stop the merry-go-round for a moment, the place that Lakers Nation should be worshipping is at the feet (and knees) of Andrew Bynum.

More than anyone else, Bynum can remove the adjective from this dying dynasty. And he is more prepared to do it than you know.

He lost 10 pounds to take a load off his knees while losing more body fat than Kevin Durant even carries. He strengthened his core and the muscles all around his knees, so critical for him to improve his base and make powerful moves when so weak in those knees. He ditched all the insecurities over sub-par conditioning and poor lateral movement that led him to rush things and get out of sync with his team.

He focused on developing quicker moves (drop steps, spin moves, one-dribble jump hooks, even the Dream Shake) and locked in on free throws, too.

Bynum remade his body with trainer Freddie Roach, who is in three Boxing Halls of Fame and now teaches champions Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan – and maybe more importantly, Roach's strength and conditioning specialist Alex Ariza.

Often twice a day over five months, six days a week, Bynum took this one healthy off season that his always-failing knees finally gave him, and he bent them forward to put his nose to the grindstone. Howard can have the "Superman" theme; Bynum will take the "Rocky" music.

You could even say the results have closed the biggest gaps between Bynum and Howard, because the feet are definitely lighter and the hands are far quicker now. This was Bynum's plan – although he upgraded in trainers from Roger Mayweather to Roach – long before he revealed himself in the season finale as someone who would take a shot at a guy a foot smaller.

That's a fair context for this, too, because the feeling now is this: Bynum, 24, has a never-before-felt comfort level with his big body, less inclined to cheat when confident in what his body can do for him in attacking others and stopping them. He's keeping at it now, but concentrating more on basketball as training camp nears with his usual trainer, Sean Zarzana, in Atlanta.

Bynum has trained hard before, but he believed boxing, which teammate Lamar Odom has used to such great results that he has pushed wife Khloe Kardashian in the ring to train now, would help him own his space more confidently. It has turned out to be a perfect physical extension to the mental empowerment he discovered midway through last season via consultations with George Mumford, Jackson's psychology guru.

It all goes together, ideally, as Mumford said when talking about Bynum's breakthrough in having NBA action become, in Bynum's own words, "really quiet."

"Sometimes working on the body directly is not going to get it, and sometimes working on the mind directly is not going to get it," Mumford said. "But if you can get the two to talk to each other, you're probably into some good stuff."

In Bynum's case, the mind was always running laps around the body.

He had a curious mind and a fat body in high school: Even after he'd dropped from 310 to 293, he carried about five chins when he played in the 2005 McDonald's All-American Game. One of his limiting beliefs has always been that he is, fundamentally, more mind than body.

In his first Lakers years, he kept studying physics, engineering and computers to engage his analytical side while also filling up on plenty of McDonald's, which didn't help. Then his body, of course, broke down again and again and again – though he was smart enough to have told me years ago he was saving his money for this very lockout.

Then came last season, when there was no serious injury and Mumford greased the mind-body track to the point that Jackson said flat-out of Bynum in March: "He's thrown out any concern he has on health issues." And the Lakers enjoyed a 17-1 run behind Bynum's full embrace of defensive dirty work, which shall be the cornerstone of everything new coach Mike Brown is building now.

Even if you remember how good Bynum after the All-Star break – outrebounding Howard, 18-15, and blocking his shot twice in a Lakers victory March 14 – you've probably forgotten he was one of the very few Lakers to deliver in the playoffs.

"Kobe's Kobe," New Orleans coach Monty Williams said after his team was eliminated. "But I thought Bynum decided the series. He was that good."

If it's all about making the Lakers better, Howard has always been way better than Bynum – and has played 567 of 574 possible games in his NBA career.

Just be aware of this when you're Photoshopping a smiling Dwight into Shannon Brown's gold No. 12 jersey:

Bynum is about to be better, too.

Via his Twitter account Tuesday, he gushed about the season being unlocked: "My baby, my heart, my passion, my job damn I love this game!"

Consider how hard Bynum pushed back in the face of reports he should be traded for Jason Kidd in 2007 and would be traded for Carmelo Anthony in 2011. Now it's a contract year for him, too, with Bynum's $16 million for 2012-13 a team option and an extension ready to be negotiated.

Even after the weight loss, he still has 10-plus pounds on Howard. Bynum tops 7-foot-1 in shoes, whereas Howard is barely more than 6-10 in shoes. Bynum is two years younger. In skills and touch, Bynum has always had the distinct advantage.

Even so, this shouldn't be about Bynum vs. Howard, remember.

This is about the Lakers getting better.

With Bynum's mind, body and season all in sync, they will.