Bynum’s Knee Not Living Up to Expectations

Well, this is probably the last thing the Lakers wanted to hear. Although Andrew Bynum has looked somewhat uncomfortable, even limited, he’s talked a good one about how great his rehabbed knee felt. More importantly, even in this capacity, he’s been absolutely invaluable to a Lakers team that’s got its eyes set on a championship.↵
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↵But according to Lakers Blog, Bynum’s no longer so upbeat:↵↵⇥Bynum said after the Lakers’ Game 2 victory that he has some pain on the outside of his right knee. He said it was an irritation in his iliotibial band but isn’t a major concern. He said it’s “going to be there for a little while.”↵⇥
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↵⇥Bynum described his current health as “pretty good” six games into a return from a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee. Assessing both the state of his body and his game, he said he is “feeling overall about 95 percent.”↵↵Forget for a second the fact that a sore knee could just as likely get more sore over the course of the playoffs as less. This is the time where Bynum and the Lakers were supposed to get reacquainted, and when Bynum was supposed to be getting back on good terms with his body. That’s a serious undertaking even if the guy’s feeling 100 percent; instead, now the focus is back on him recovering. It’s not about him trusting his knee again, or getting his conditioning right, but dealing with discomfort. And whenever the center comes up short, the rest of the Lakers will have to wonder: Is this rust, or the onset of new horror?↵
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↵This really is the kind of psycho-physical predicament that, for the man himself, his teammates, and their coach, will provide an especially oblique test of a champion. Good thing it seems tailor-made for Phil Jackson.↵