The Los Angeles Lakers and their fans breathed a collective sigh of relief when they found out shot-blocking center Andrew Bynum should be ready for action once the playoffs get underway.
Bynum had an MRI on his injured right knee on Apr. 13th and the results confirmed he is just suffering from a bone bruise and nothing more serious. Bynum’s had his share of injuries during his NBA career and the club thought the seven-footer might be on the sidelines for an extended period of time after hyper-extending his knee during the Lakers victory over San Antonio the night before.
Bynum is seen as an important piece of the Lakers puzzle as attempt to win their third consecutive championship. He injured himself during the second quarter against san Antonio after stepping on the foot of DeJuan Blair and falling awkwardly to the court. However, he managed to walk off to the locker under his own steam and let coach Phil Jackson know it wasn’t anything serious.
Lakers guard Derek Fisher said Bynum is dominant in his position and his teammates would hate to have to play without him for an extended period of time. He said it was tough to watch Bynum get injured and the players crossed their fingers that he hadn’t done any serious damage.
The 23-year-old Bynum’s regarded by the club and fans alike as the team’s most important defensive member. In 54 games this season he averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds along with close to two blocked shots. His size is imposing, especially when playing with another seven-footer in Pau Gasol.
Bynum was drafted at the tender age of 17 when he was taken 10th overall just six years ago, becoming the youngest ever player to be selected. But since then he’s had to deal with a series of pretty serious knee injuries. Because the Lakers have been so successful recently, they’ve played more games than any other NBA team over the last four seasons and this has taken its toll on Bynum and several of his teammates.
But Gasol said Bynum will definitely play if possible as he’ll battle through anything and sacrifice himself to help the team. There are sometimes Bynum has to sit out though, and he was sidelined for the Lakers first 24 games this season as he was recovering from an off-season knee operation to fix a torn meniscus in his knee. He also missed a game in February due to a bone bruise to his left knee.
He missed 47 games in 2008 after left-surgery for a dislocated left kneecap and the Lakers were beaten in the finals. They won the title the next two seasons with a healthy Bynum in the lineup. He chose to play with a partially torn right meniscus in last season’s playoffs and had it repaired when the season was over, forcing him to miss the start of this year’s NBA campaign.
The Lakers start their playoff run on Apr. 16th at home at the Staples Center against the New Orleans Hornets.
Even though they lost five of their last seven season games, the Lakers are favored to win their third straight title with the odds currently standing at 3/1 on Bodog.com
