Andrew Bynum Knee Injury :(

Lakers wait to receive results of Bynum's MRI

The Los Angeles Lakers expect to receive MRI results on center Andrew Bynum's right knee injury Sunday night. Bynum was hurt in the first quarter of Saturday night's win at Memphis. Kobe Bryant drove to the basket, missed the shot and crashed into Bynum's right leg. Bynum immediately grabbed his knee. Bynum missed the final 46 games of last season with a left knee injury. He is averaging 14.0 points and 8.2 rebounds. The Lakers practiced Sunday in New York in preparation for Monday night's game at the Knicks. Bryant says "everybody's just...read full article

James, Bynum earn NBA weekly honors

The Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers' Andrew Bynum have been named the Eastern and Western Conference Players of the Week, respectively, for the period ending January 25. James guided the Cavaliers to a 3-1 record during a week-long West Coast swing, averaging 30.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 2.3 steals, per contest. He recorded his twelfth double-double of the season with a 33-point, 14-rebound effort on January 24 in a win against Utah. Bynum averaged 23.5 points, 11.5 rebounds and 2.25 blocks...read full article

NBA Preview from The Sports Network

Los Angeles Lakers (30-6) at Houston Rockets (24-15), 8:30 p.m.

The Los Angeles Lakers kick off a quick two-game road swing through Texas on Tuesday when they arrive in Houston to face the Rockets at the Toyota Center. The Lakers won their third straight game on Sunday when Andrew Bynum scored a team-best 24 points, including a key putback in the waning moments of the fourth, as Los Angeles went on to post a 108-105 victory over the Miami Heat at Staples Center. Kobe Bryant had 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting with seven assists, while Derek Fisher had a game-high 11 helpers and 13 points for...read full article

Bynum helps Lakers edge Heat

Andrew Bynum scored a team-best 24 points, including a key putback bucket in the waning moments of the fourth, and the Los Angeles Lakers went on to post a 108-105 victory over the Miami Heat at Staples Center. Kobe Bryant had 19 points on 5-of-14 shooting with seven assists, while Derek Fisher had a game-high 11 helpers and 13 points for LA, which has won three straight and nine of 10 overall. Pau Gasol logged a game-high 18 rebounds and scored 14 for the Lakers, while Vladimir Radmanovic drained four three-pointers en route to 18 points. The...read full article

Bynum lifts Lakers to close win over Heat

Kobe Bryant again misfired against the Miami Heat. This time, Andrew Bynum had his back. Bynum tipped in Bryant's miss with just under 19 seconds remaining Sunday, helping to lift the Los Angeles Lakers to a 108-105 victory over the Heat in a matchup of two of the NBA's top three leading scorers. Bynum had 24 points and six rebounds for the Lakers, who suffered an 89-87 loss to the Heat on December 19, when Bryant's game-tying attempt rimmed out at the buzzer. With the game tied at 102-102 on Sunday, Bryant drove to Dwyane...read full article

Bynum leads Lakers past Heat 108-105

Andrew Bynum scored a season-high 24 points, including a go-ahead follow shot with 18.5 seconds remaining, and the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Miami Heat 108-105 Sunday night to become the first Western Conference team to reach 30 victories. After Bryant tipped in Kobe Bryant's miss to give the Lakers a 104-102 lead, Chris Quinn missed a baseline jumper. Vladimir Radmanovic got the rebound and was fouled with 6.6 seconds left. Radmanovic, an 83.3 percent shooter from the foul line, made both shots to give him a season-high 18 points...read full article

Gasol's 4th-quarter surge leads Lakers

Pau Gasol had 33 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, Kobe Bryant added 21 points and the Los Angeles Lakers rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit for their seventh victory in eight games, 114-106 over Golden State on Wednesday night. Andrew Bynum had 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Lakers, whose home loss to New Orleans on Tuesday snapped a six-game winning streak for the Western Conference leaders. Los Angeles struggled for the second straight night before Gasol took charge against Golden State's undersized frontcourt, scoring six points during the...read full article

Message to Lakers: Wake us when the playoffs get here

There's not much drama and frankly life around Staples Center can be downright boring with Phil Jackson. There's no drama here, no conflict, and after Christmas Day, really no debate. The Champs are boring, good enough to win every game and so what if they don't? They're going to go into the playoffs seeded No. 1 in the West, where they dominated a year ago without Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza. Everyone knows it, and yet you people gobble up everything written about the Champs as if it's breaking news, everything written these days...read full article

Bynum's sporadic play puzzles Jackson

The young center's up-and-down efforts continued with just two rebounds on Friday.

The Lakers have rebounded nicely from last month's back-to-back losses in Miami and Orlando, winning five consecutive games heading into tonight's game against Portland.
They rank first in the league in scoring, are shooting a respectable 47.3 percent from the floor and outrebounding their opponents by more than three boards a game. Seems everything is clicking well. But maybe not everyone. Coach Phil Jackson is puzzled by...read full article

Lakers' Andrew Bynum can't quite get in sync

A year after his NBA breakthrough, the Lakers' young center can't find the rhythm he enjoyed last January before his season-ending knee injury.

Andrew Bynum was the toast of the town a year ago, averaging 17.3 points and 12.3 rebounds in the month of January before a knee injury prematurely ended the party. Can he get that feeling back? Bynum has had one double-double in his last seven games. He had eight points and two rebounds in 25 minutes of the Lakers' 113-100 victory Friday over...read full article

Kareem preaches patience to Andrew Bynum

Young center wants to be more assertive, but Hall of Famer says opportunities will come.

The NBA's all-time leading scorer has one word for Andrew Bynum -- patience. Bynum has struggled with his shot and recently said he wanted to be more assertive once he got the basketball in the post. To paraphrase Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, it will happen in time. "The offense is designed to spread it around, but if you're getting high-percentage shots in the post, they're of great value to a team," said Abdul-Jabbar, in his fourth season as a Lakers' special assistant coach in charge of Bynum's development.

"It's a situation where he has to prove that he can deliver and then maybe the offense can look for him more than it is right now. He just has to be patient." After getting outscored and outrebounded by Detroit center Kwame Brown, Bynum lamented that he hadn't scored enough in the low post this season, feeding instead off screen-and-rolls, lob passes and offensive rebounds. Bynum, who signed a four-year, $57.4-million contract extension last month, was averaging 9.9 points and 8.9 rebounds while shooting 45.5% before Tuesday's game against...read full article

Andrew Bynum's Birthday Bash at Club Ivar

Andrew Bynum was making it rain dollars at Club Ivar for his 21th birthday. Check it out!

WOULD YOU RATHER: ANDREW BYNUM/JORDAN FARMAR

We played a game of “Would You Rather” with Andrew Bynum and Jordan Farmar, with names like Kimbo Slice, James Bond, Jessica Alba and Mr. Belding coming into play.

If you can figure out whose answers are better, let us know. I’m undecided.

MT: ... Would you rather fight Chuck Norris in a cage match or Kimbo Slice on the street?
Bynum: Chuck Norris. He’s a little bit smaller than Kimbo. I’m going to be able to stay away from Chuck a little bit, and I don’t want Kimbo to be touching me. 
Farmar: Chuck Norris, because I like organized sports. I don’t play basketball in the streets really anymore … I like being in a gym with refs. I’ll take my chances with Chuck.

MT: ... Be James Bond for a day ... Or Hugh Hefner for a day?
Bynum: James Bond. All day. You get the cars, you can shoot very well, you’re an ace, you’re a ladies’ man … You have the total package. 
Farmar: James Bond. Come on, he’s a highly-trained assassin/double-agent. He does his thing, and he still gets girls. He drives the hot car, he’s young, he’s fly, athletic, coordinated … Plus I’m not a Playmate kind of guy.

MT: ... Be able to communicate with animals, or be able to read women's minds?...read full article

Andrew Bynum's agent disappointed with contract talks with Lakers

The center is in the final season of his contract and could become a restricted free agent next year if the Lakers don't sign him to an extension by Oct. 31.

Andrew Bynum turns 21 on Oct. 27. Then comes an even bigger date. The Lakers have until Oct. 31 to sign Bynum to a five-year contract extension, though discussions with the team have been "few and not significant," according to Bynum's agent, David Lee. "I just don't get it," Lee said. "I do not understand certain things that happen. Andrew has taken everything the Lakers have thrown at him, including criticism. He doesn't do anything to respond other than go on the court. He just goes on with his business."

Lee is traveling from New York to meet today with Lakers General Manager Mitch Kupchak in hopes of working out a deal.

Bynum, who will make $2.8 million this season in the final year of his contract, can sign a five-year extension worth up to about $85 million, a figure that won't officially be determined until the NBA's salary cap for the 2009-10 season is announced next summer.

The Lakers currently do not plan on offering Bynum a maximum deal, and they want to gauge his health and on-court prowess over the final five exhibition games.

Bynum has said his surgically repaired left knee feels fine. He also said he didn't think too often...read full article

Pau Gasol sees Andrew Bynum as a complement

The duo of seven-footers hope that in time they can dominate the paint together.

It wasn't a demand -- not like the ones Shaquille O'Neal once made. Rather, it was a point of emphasis by Pau Gasol. Gasol is 7 feet and 250 pounds and Andrew Bynum is 7 feet and 285 pounds, a duo that will form a Twin Towers for the Lakers that can be devastating, but only if the Lakers utilize them in the low post.

"We have to play like we have two seven-footers that dominate the paint. That's how you take advantage. If you don't do that, then you might as well not have it," Gasol said.

When O'Neal played for the Lakers, he demanded the basketball and let it be known that if the big dog wasn't fed, he wouldn't guard the porch, which was code that O'Neal wouldn't play defense if he didn't get the ball on offense.

Gasol isn't saying that.

Gasol and Bynum each take high-percentage shots, are good passers and can make life easier on their teammates with an inside-out game.

The two started for the first time together in the exhibition season Sunday night and had some...read full story

It's (almost) all good for Lakers' Andrew Bynum

Center has 15 points, eight rebounds and a few mistakes in Lakers' exhibition opener, his first game since suffering a knee injury in January. L.A. loses to Utah, 99-90.

The theme from "Welcome Back, Kotter" came over the loudspeaker and a strong ovation followed.

Andrew Bynum was back.

It was only an exhibition, a 99-90 Lakers loss to Utah, but Bynum had more good moments than bad in a 15-point, eight-rebound effort Tuesday at the Honda Center.

In his first game since sustaining a knee injury in January, Bynum backed down Mehmet Okur for an easy turnaround, dunked off a feed from Derek Fisher and pinned Paul Millsap down low on the way to converting a three-point play.

On the other hand, two of his shots were blocked and he had four turnovers in 24 minutes.

"He's shown some really good things out there and then he's shown some things that he definitely needs to improve upon," said assistant coach Kurt Rambis. "We keep impressing upon him that he's got to do a much better job of running...read full article

Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol get acquainted

Pau Gasol doesn't smile blissfully on the way to work every day. He swears it's true.

The veteran forward-center is experiencing his first training camp with the Lakers after six and a half seasons in Memphis.

Preseason predictions have the Grizzlies near the bottom of the Western Conference, again. The Lakers, on the other hand, are the popular choice to win the West, if not the NBA Finals.

Not that Gasol is celebrating.

"Probably I did last year for the first month or so [after the trade], but I'm a guy that I always look forward no matter what, no matter how good things are, no matter how bad things are," he said.

His midseason acquisition energized the Lakers and helped them get through the rough-and-rumble West in the playoffs. He never played with Andrew Bynum until now. He likes what he sees.

"We're starting to develop our relationship on the court," Gasol said. "He's a young, talented man with a lot of potential. Hopefully he'll be able to explode this year and be able to produce a lot and...read full article

Andrew Bynum wasn't a natural selection for Lakers

The best of times were a memory and the worst of times had just begun in the spring of 2005 when the Lakers drafted 17-year-old Andrew Bynum out of high school in what seemed the maraschino cherry on the sundae of their dysfunction.

Dysfunction was a popular word around them after eight years of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, but those now seemed like the good old days.

O'Neal was gone. Jerry West was gone. Chick Hearn was gone.

Rudy Tomjanovich, hired to replace Phil Jackson, had come and gone, fleeing within months to be replaced by . . . Jackson, who had been gone but was back.

Owner Jerry Buss, who had let Jackson go and was obliged to rehire him, seemed out of touch, musing that his 34-48 team could be in the Western Conference finals in "a couple of years."

In fact, Buss was more detached than ever, involving his son Jim in decisions, which, as far as Lakers fans were concerned, was like Jed Clampett turning the Beverly Hillbillies over to nephew Jethro.

The real heat was on General Manager Mitch Kupchak, whose challenge -- build a dynasty from the ashes of the old one -- was the NBA equivalent of "Mission: Impossible."...read full article