Lakers’ center Andrew Bynum has been an instrumental part in their back to back NBA championships. However, due to surgery on a troublesome knee last off-season he hasn’t played a single minute thus far in 2010-2011. After finally settling on a date for his potential comeback, December 13, it appears as if he has found another excuse to delay his return.
The story goes that after a scheduled practice in New York City on Saturday afternoon was cancelled, Bynum wasn’t feeling confident in declaring himself eligible for Tuesday night. Bynum stated that he wanted to wait and see how he felt after several practices, and since practice was cancelled he is still unable to know for sure.
Lakers’ head coach Phil Jackson isn’t putting any added pressure on Bynum’s return, stating that he’ll make it back sometime this week or early next week.
This is just the latest chapter in the long saga of Andrew Bynum’s injury concerns. It’s not the injuries themselves that have been the biggest concerns with the coaches and fans, it’s the rehabilitation time that Bynum eats up. This is the fourth injury in as many years that has required Bynum to take an extended period of time off, at least more time than most experts predict.
So then what is the problem? Is Bynum’s body just brutally frail? Does it just take longer for him to heal from these injuries? Possibly. But there is still the concern that perhaps Bynum isn’t doing all that is necessary to make sure he’s back on the floor as quickly as possible.
Whether this is a legitimate concern or not is yet to be seen, but until Bynum is able to prove that he can stay on the floor – or come back quickly if he sustains another injury – the questions will continue to swirl.