Bynum has been the center of controversies many times before, with the most major ones occurring within the past year. With his most recent rant resulting in motivation for the Denver Nuggets in the playoffs, its time to look at Andrew Bynum’s ten controversial stories.
10: Gerald Wallace’s lung collapses
In 2009, when Gerald Wallace played for the Charlotte Bobcats, he suffered a partially collapsed left lung after taking a hard hit from Andrew Bynum.
Although Bynum’s hit was not intentional, he was called for a flagrant foul and Wallace was later sent to the hospital. However, Bobcats guard Raymond Felton told reporters that he did not see anything malicious with the hit.
9: Bynum Parks in Handicap Sport
23-year old Andrew Bynum was hit with a $353 parking ticket for parking his black BMW in two marked handicapped spaces outside of a Bristol Farms market in Westchester, CA.
Bynum even refused to speak with reporters and drove off when he was asked questions.
8: Andrew Bynum Refuses Lessons from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Not many young centers have a chance to learn from the great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Andrew Bynum had that opportunity during his early years with the Lakers.
Abdul-Jabbar is considered one of the greatest players in Lakers history, and there is no doubt he greatly improved Bynum’s game. However, the brash young center felt like he could do better on his own and decided to ditch the great mentor.
Next Page: Numbers Seven, Six Five
The Los Angeles Lakers just came off winning the 2010 NBA Finals, despite knee troubles from Andrew Bynum. It was all but certain that he would have surgery to repair his knee once the Finals ended and have ample time to recover for next season.
Instead, Bynum delayed his much-needed knee surgery so that he can have fun in South Africa at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Bynum did not want to be on crunches because it would have ruined the experience at the World Cup and his summer Europe trip.
Let’s just say neither fans nor the great Phil Jackson was excited by the decision.
6: Bynum Gets Ejected Twice, Costs Lakers a Win
Andrew Bynum had a lot of say to the referees in the 2011-12 NBA season and that forced him to get ejected out of two games. Both of the ejections occurred when the Lakers played their Houston Rockets and both of them led to Lakers losses.
The first one resulted after Bynum had a few words for the referees at the free-throw line in Houston and the other one occurred at an inopportune time as the Lakers were fighting the Rockets in another close game.
Bynum talked a little bit too much trash to the Rockets bench and the officials had heard enough and sent him back to the locker-room.
5: Andrew Bynum Calls Close-Out Game Easy
The Los Angeles Lakers had a chance to advance to the second round yesterday and all they had to do was beat the Denver Nuggets in Game 5 at Staples Center. The Lakers played extremely well in their first two games at home and everyone expected them to win the game.
However, no player ever underestimates an opponent publicly, but Bynum decided to run his mouth before tip. Bynum told reporters that close-out games tend to be easy and implied that the Lakers should handle the Nuggets in five games.
Ironically, the Lakers lost the game 102-99, and for the most part, Nuggets center JaVale McGee dominated Bynum on both ends of the court.
Next Page: Numbers Four and Three
4: Andrew Bynum Doesn’t Take Part in Mike Brown’s Huddles
The Los Angeles Lakers struggled at times in the 2011-12 season, and many people questioned the relationship between coach Mike Brown and his star center.
Bynum has often times acted up on the floor and just like most coaches would do, Brown benched Bynum for his uninspired play or immature behavior. Nevertheless, disciplined players rise up and huddle around teammates and the coach during timeout. However, it seems as though Bynum isn’t one of those players.
“I don’t know,” Bynum said. “I don’t take part in the huddles. I’m resting,” Bynum said. “Getting my Zen on.”
I’m not sure how many star players don’t take part in team huddles.
3: The Infamous Three-Point Shot
There are not a lot of seven-footers, with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, who are encouraged to look for shots behind the three-point arc. Players with the size of Andrew Bynum are meant to be in the post and most of their points come off dunks or even close-ranged shots.
However, Bynum apparently doesn’t live by that idea, and if he is open on the arc, there is a chance he will shoot the long-ball. That is exactly what happened when the Lakers played the Golden State Warriors.
Bynum ran up the floor, and when he saw no defender in front of him, he pulled up for the three and came up with nothing. To make matters worse, Bynum did not get back on defense and was benched.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GEbgtvOfr8
Next Page:Numbers Two and One
2: Bynum’s Flagrant Foul on Michael Beasley
The Los Angeles Lakers were in a heated battle with the less-talented Minnesota Timberwolves, and the two teams were tied late in the fourth quarter. It was a frustrating game for the Lakers, but the players remained calm up until Bynum’s incident.
As Timberwolves forward Michael Beasley drove to the basket, he met up with Andrew Bynum and was thrown to the floor. Beasley did manage to get up from the hit, but Bynum received a two-game suspension.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU7RiLERJ-Y
1: Andrew Bynum Takes Out J.J. Barea
The Los Angeles Lakers were on the verge of getting swept out of the second-round by the Dallas Mavericks, and Game 4 was over well before the fourth quarter.
The Lakers were clearly frustrated by their play, and Andrew Bynum decided to take that out on J.J. Barea. Barea drove to the basket, but Bynum shoved him in mid-air and Barea went down hard.
He was obviously ejected from the game and the NBA decided to suspend him for the first four games of the 2011-12 season.
httpvhd://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d12YVBOrP00