Bynum Undergoes Knee Surgery
The summer of 2010 has been one of great player movement in the National Basketball Association. Through it all, repeat champions the Los Angeles Lakers have been fortunate enough to retain most of their core, while even adding to it.
The squad has an average age around 28/29 and could be a strong contender for a trio of championships. Unfortunately, they now have to deal with the health issues to injury prone baby-faced power forward Andrew Bynum.
Bynum, who is only 22 years old, is set to undergo his second knee surgery in three years. The surgery, scheduled to be performed by New York-based Dr. David Altchek July 28, is supposed to repair torn cartilage in Bynum’s right knee. According to Bynum, the surgery was expected to take place sooner, but Altchek had no openings until late July.
The Lakers have claimed that prognosis is that Bynum will be 100% rehabilitated by the start of the Lakers’ training camp in September. Upon his return, Bynum will have to prove his health rather quickly as the Lakers have a busy preseason schedule that includes an October 4 trip to London to face the Minnesota Timberwolves at London’s famed O2 Arena followed by an October 7 date in Spain against Ricky Rubio and Regal FC Barcelona. Oddly enough, Rubio was drafted by the Timberwolves but opted to stay in Spain until 2012.
Bynum’s presence is not particularly required in these exhibition games, but he needs to get as much light play as possible to warm up for the much more physical regular season games he must play.
Bynum first hyperextended the knee in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs when the Lakers were facing the Oklahoma City Thunder, and then opted to play through the injury until the offseason. The Lakers trumped the Thunder in part to their clear size advantage in the low post based around Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom.
The seven foot centre continued to play throughout the playoffs, but was clearly bothered by the knee. The injury was drained three times since Game 1 of the NBA Finals. Though he was praised for his attitude and perseverance, the injury affected Bynum’s play as well. In the Finals, Bynum averaged only 7.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 25 minutes of play per game.
During the season, Bynum had averaged 15.0 points and 8.3 rebounds while playing 30.4 minutes per game.
After recovering from this surgery, it is necessary for Bynum to put in a healthy season. He has already been labelled negatively as being “injury prone” and has not been able to shed the stereotype, which will no doubt affect his future contracts and pay.
To do so, Bynum will need to play in at least 70 of the 82 games in the regular season. This is a feat he has not achieved since 2006-07, his sophomore year in the NBA. Anything short of that will just reaffirm Bynum’s fragility.
If Bynum returns to form, the Lakers are perhaps an even stronger contender than they were during their 2009 Championship winning season. The still have their big man trio of Bynum, Gasol, and Odom to supplement the unparalleled clutch performances of star player Kobe Bryant.
The Lakers have also addressed their weakness and age in the guard position by adding Steve Blake to backup the re-signed veteran Derek Fisher. The only piece of the puzzle left for the Lakers is Bynum. Without him, the team becomes much less of a threat down low, which also allows their opponents to place a heavier burden on stopping the Lakers guards.
If Bynum is back and in full force, expect the Lakers to scorch through the Western Conference again. If not, undersized rookies Derek Caracter and Devin Ebanks will be forced to play in Bynum’s spot. Regardless, the Lakers are contenders, but with Bynum healthy they have proven themselves to be nearly unstoppable.
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