Bynum’s behavior this year has resembled that of a petulant child. The worst thing that ever could have happened to Andrew Bynum is for Andrew Bynum to become relevant. The Lakers’ center has long been a favorite of the franchise’s brass, but hasn’t always necessary had the production on the court worthy of that type of hype. Drafted straight out of high school, Bynum was brought along slowly during his 1st few years in the league somewhat similarly to another big man who made the jump to the pros without playing any college ball, Jermaine O’Neal. During his rookie season, Bynum played sparingly. In his 2nd year, he started 53 games and averaged about 22 minutes a night. From his 3rd season on, Bynum has been the Lakers’ regular starting center when healthy…and prior to this season, “when” was the key word. He showed flashes of being a dominant big man from time to time (when Kobe would actually allow him to touch the ball on offense), but he always seemed to be injured.
Bynum has shown the potential to be dominant at times...at times.
This season has been Bynum’s best by any measure. He has played and started all but 6 games. He set career highs in points, rebounds, and minutes per game. He even was voted to start in the All-Star game. (With all that being said, let’s not get carried away. It’s not exactly a golden age for centers where Bynum had to beat out Hakeem Olajuwon and David Robinson to get in.) Bynum had some nice moments on the court, his 30 rebound game against San Antonio and a 10 block game earlier this series against Denver coming to mind 1st. That’s all well and good, but Bynum might have started feeling himself a little bit too much. Maybe he started hearing the voices out there that said Kobe should be feeding the post a little bit more and shooting less in his old age (probably true). Maybe he heard his name coming up in Dwight Howard trade rumors a little too often, and he started thinking of himself as a megastar along the same lines as Dwight (a discussion of how good Howard is will be saved for another day). Maybe Bynum really enjoys the fact that he was an All-Star starter this year, or that he was the 21st highest paid player in the league this year according to HoopsHype.com.
No matter what the reason, Bynum’s brattiness has been on full display this year. (Actually, it dates back to last year’s playoffs when he clotheslined little JJ Barea, and disrobed on the way to the locker room following his subsequent ejection.) He took an ill-advised 3 in a game against the Warriors, got benched, and later defied his coach by saying he would continue to take 3’s in games if he wanted to. With the Lakers up 3-1 in their current playoff series against the Nuggets, Bynum couldn’t help but open his mouth again, saying something to the effect of “closeout games are easy because the other team usually folds.” If that’s not billboard material for the other team, I’m not sure what is. (Bynum and the Lakers responded by getting clobbered the next 2 games.)
Oh yeah..."that."
More than any of that though, Bynum’s demeanor has been the most disturbing thing of all throughout year. His arrogance and the apparent fact that he just doesn’t get “it” never cease to amaze. It showed through in the “3-point-gate” episode with Mike Brown and in his eyebrow-raising comments about closeout games, but it’s much more than that. It’s his lack of participation in team huddles during timeouts when he doesn’t feel like it, his on court temper tantrums or disappearing acts when he doesn’t get the ball on offense a few possessions in a row, his eye rolls and woofing at teammates when they make a mistake (usually trying to cover up for a mistake that Bynum himself made through his own laziness earlier in that play). After LA’s game 5 loss, there was a Grantland article dedicated to how Denver’s Kenneth Faried was outplaying the superior athlete and physical specimen, Bynum, simply by playing hard all the time. For example, the article shows 1 play where while Bynum showboats to the crowd following a basket, and Faried then beats Bynum back down court to get a layup of his own. Anyone who has watched any of this series will tell you that regardless of whether the Nugget big man is Faried, JaVale McGee, or Timothy Mozgov, similar plays have been a common scene.
Bynum's actions often still call his maturity into question.
I would love to see the star-less Nuggets knock off the Lakers in game 7, but as I said before I just can’t really see that happening (http://bcourtallstar.blogspot.com/2012/05/less-is-more-best-of-7-in-round-1.html). Kobe will play great, the refs will give the Lakers all the calls they need, and Bynum will play hard enough for 1 game at least to ensure LA advances. Maybe that’s all for the better, as we’ll get to see OKC’s very active front line put the wood to Bynum all series in the next round. It’s sad because Bynum is 1 of only a handful of competent true back-to-the-basket big men in the world anymore, and his combination of size, power, footwork, and touch around the basket is probably unparalleled in the league. Still, his babyishness makes it almost impossible for you to root for him…that is unless you’re a Lakers fan, in which case you probably think Bynum is the future of the league. If that’s true, God help us all.
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