Bynum went down hard after stepping on teammate Lamar Odom’s foot and was helped off the floor during the third quarter of the Lakers' one-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies Sunday night. It was their sixth win in a row – their longest win streak since the 2003-04 season – and raised their record to 25-11, a half-game out in the race for the best record in the Western Conference.
So what does this mean to the Lakers? Well, they lose their 20-year-old center, who has been improving seemingly every week to the adult stats of 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Now they turn to the notorious bust that was the first pick overall in the 2001 draft, Kwame Brown.
Physically, there’s not that much difference on paper – Bynum at 7-foot, 280, Brown at 6-11, 270. The difference is the way they play, as Bynum is seemingly growing every game, while Brown has consistently underachieved akin to a shrinking violet.
It would be easy to compare this to last season when the Lakers got off to a great start, only to have injury after injury pile up – leaving the bulk of mid-season almost solely to Bryant as the aircraft carrier from the opening tipoff to the final buzzer. By the time everyone returned, they were already done.
This year has been different. They are deeper and more experienced with the additions of Derek Fisher and Trevor Ariza. That’s shooting from Fisher and defense from both, with Bynum growing into more of a force daily.
Consequently, they’ve progressed (both individually and as a team) during this process – Bryant included – so the short-run isn’t really the issue. They’ll be OK, and weren’t likely to win the West anyway. This is about the big picture. They have an overgrown kid in Bynum who is full of life and love for the game – and has become a protégé for no less than legendary center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
The concern is how this will affect the growth and confidence he has developed this season as he has begun to dominate the interior at both ends of the floor. Hopefully, this is just a minor derailment. And maybe, just maybe, Bryant, who was so willing to part with Bynum for anybody this summer, will appreciate his young center for what he is instead of bemoaning what he isn’t.
