Phil Jackson says Andrew Bynum may miss start of regular season
Phil Jackson, also known as the “Zen Master,” never seems to lose his cool.
In his first comments to the media mere days before training camp begins, the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers did not express any anxiousness or resentment towards his starting centre
Andrew Bynum. It was recently announced that Bynum, who continues to recover from knee surgery, will miss out on training camp.
Bynum has also been criticized by many for delaying his surgery so he could attend the World Cup in South Africa and vacation around Europe with friends and family.
"I know he's getting battered a little bit and we could have had the operation a little bit earlier," said Jackson. "But the end result is what's he going to be like in May and June and
that's the important part."
The other bit of news imparted by the iconic coach, winner of 11 NBA championships in the role, was that Bynum, who was originally expected to suit up for opening night on 26 October against
Houston, may not be ready in time.
"I don't see how Andrew is going to be ready and I really haven't anticipated Andrew being ready to go at the beginning of the season," the coach said.
Instead of undergoing surgery on the scheduled date of 18 June, soon after the Lakers beat the Celtics in the Finals, Bynum elected to reschedule the operation for 28 June, ten days later.
But Jackson, who encouraged the seven-footer to take the trip, said the recovery from the operation turned out to be more complicated than originally expected.
"The type of surgery that the doctor did on his knee takes a little extra time," Jackson said. "Obviously we hadn't prepared and Andrew certainly hadn't prepared for the fact that it could
take an extra month and a half or so to rehab this type of surgery."
Jackson said Bynum would likely miss the first few games of the season, adding that he will assign him limited minutes when he does come back before his knee returns to full strength.
Bynum will be entering his sixth season in the league after being drafted by the Lakers in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft. Although the big man shows signs that he could be a dominating
force, injuries have severely set back his career. The 2006-07 season is the only year in which Bynum played all 82 games.
Tags: