It's an annual tradition in the NBA season: Andrew Bynum battling an injury. The emerging young Lakers center has played an average of 50 games in his last three seasons. Now, it appears he might be injured during the regular season again.
Lakers Unsure If Andrew Bynum Will Be Healthy For Season Opener
Kevin Ding of the Orange-County Register is reporting there’s a chance Bynum won’t be ready for the start of the 2010-11 regular season. Bynum had arthroscopic knee surgery on July 28, a procedure he put off to contribute in the playoffs, but he is not recovering as fast as originally anticipated.
Andrew Bynum’s return from surgery to repair torn cartilage in his right knee remains distant enough that it’s unclear if he’ll be on the court for the Lakers when they open the regular season Oct. 26 vs. Houston.
“We’re hopeful that he’ll be ready for the start of the season,” Lakers spokesman John Black said Wednesday.
Worse, according to Ding, Bynum could have had the surgery sooner, but put it off to -- umm -- have some fun.
Bynum put off having offseason surgery on his right knee so he could play - and we’re not talking about playing basketball. He could’ve repaired the knee immediately after last season, but he postponed it to travel - to see the soccer World Cup in South Africa and then vacation in Europe, as he had the previous summer.
Ding reports that scheduling conflicts that were unavoidable pushed the surgery back from July 18 to July 28, but adds that Bynum easily could have come in earlier than that. Bynum even had his knee drained so he could go on vacation without having to be on crutches. That’s ... pretty amazing, considering Bynum’s slow recovery time with previous knee injuries.
It’s only November, but already, the Lakers are starting the season from behind, all because of something Bynum could have easily fixed himself if he was willing to have the surgery on time.
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