The seven-foot centre who has bone bruises in both his knees has been cleared by doctors to start low impact training; timetable for return still uncertain....
When the Philadelphia 76ers acquired Andrew Bynum in a four team trade that sent their shooting guard Andre Iguodala to the Denver Nuggets in the off-season, they had envisioned a star player, around whom they could build their
franchise.
That never happened though. Bynum nursed a bone bruise in his right knee as the Phillies started preparing for the training camps, and was expected to be fit early in the season. However the centre managed to somehow suffer a bone
bruise in his left knee as well, throwing his return date way back, and it was only recently that the doctors cleared him for low impact exercises, such as riding a stationary bicycle.
After going through the medical check up, the centre, considered as the next best thing to Dwight Howard, seemed optimistic about a return to court this season.
"I'm confident I'll be on the court this season," said Bynum.
"The bone bruises are healed and the swelling is gone, so those two things are great. We're just waiting for mechanical issues to be resolved, and that's going to take anywhere from a month to two. I have no idea, but we're going
to work toward grinding it out so it's not causing me any problems."
Bynum’s contract with the Phillies will finish at the end of this season. The initial assessment was that the Sixers will offer Bynum a maximum five year contract somewhere in the middle of the season. But now, with the one time
All-Star nowhere close to making a return, the franchise might want to offer him much less or no contract at all.
Bynum however was not much concerned with that aspect, and vowed to take appropriate time in making a return;
"The doctors are taking their time because I want to play for another 10, 12 years, and not two," Bynum said. "So I think the biggest thing here is to take our time and get it done right."
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