Andrew Bynum’s career hitting the skids
By Courtnie Martin, Sports Reporter
“What the fuck? Are you kidding me? Andrew Bynum? Fucking ship his ass out,” said Kobe Bryant in 2007 when told of a potential trade of Andrew Bynum for Jason Kidd. Bynum’s career has been haunted by many things through his ups and downs, but none nearly as effective as his lack of desire to be on the court, which is perhaps what brought Kobe to express such disapproval over wearing the same jersey as Bynum.
Bynum has been shipped around from the Lakers to the Sixers and finally to the Cavaliers. Interestingly enough, the Lakers (as of this writing) are considering a trade-and-waive move for him involving Pau Gasol to lessen their taxed income in the upcoming season. Gasol’s contract ends after the season, which allows the Lakers zero obligation, while Cleveland will be committed to another $12-million if they keep Bynum through January. The problem still remains—is Bynum worth it?
For many years, his teammates have consistently suggested that his love for the game is lacking. Cavaliers coach Mike Brown has expressed just how baffled he was when Bynum would begin chucking up shots from the three-point line and doing things entirely out of his skill set. Call it boredom, but Bynum got the boot from two NBA teams for his lack of dedication. Aside from his emotional detachment, the physical side of things is also a playing factor in his NBA career.
Standing at a gigantic seven feet tall, 285 lbs, the goliath-sized athlete doesn’t have the sustainability in his knees to continue the gruelling training as a professional basketball player. As the youngest player to ever play in the NBA (a 17-year-old when he was drafted), he also sat out the entire 2012-13 season because of injury. While he continues to work on strengthening his knees, he’s admitted he has been seriously considering retirement.
Bynum is one of the few athletes who seems to blatantly go about their professional career as a job rather than a passion. His hobbies have varied from making computer parts, producing a remote control car that could reach 100 miles per hour, and training dogs. He reportedly spends more time on his pastimes than working toward fixing his injury. So why is he still in the NBA? Could Bynum be taking advantage of the millions he gains from tossing around an orange ball? Whatever scenario you present, it’s fairly obvious that Bynum is on his way out of the NBA. The biggest question that remains is if the Lakers will get lucky and seal a deal allowing them to save millions, or if Cleveland will be stuck with Bynum knowing his knee is nearly gone and his passion is nonexistent.
One could only wonder how an injured Kobe feels about bringing back a player he wanted gone in his younger years. Will the Cleveland Cavaliers “ship his ass out” and hand him over to the Lakers or will the upcoming season be a long one?
