Time to put the brakes on Bynum's bandwagon

If we’re not careful we might have a serious tragedy on our hands. The Andrew Bynum bandwagon has reached standing room only status and is going full speed, positively careening out of control. Just about everyone in Laker-land, and even some bandwagon hoppers in other cities around the league, have jumped on the broad shoulders of the Lakers’ 7 foot tall, 275 pound phenomenon and is enjoying the ride. They all better be careful though, lest overconfidence creeps into the unassuming 20-year-old and he comes crashing down under the pressure.

As it is with the reactionary sports media in our great land, Bynum’s 28 points and 12 rebounds performance recently against the Phoenix Suns was reason enough to put the kid on an undeserved and all-to-early pedestal. See stories like this, or this one. Really Stan McNeal of Sporting News, do you really think Bynum is the third best center in the league? Apparently, jumping on the Andrew Bynum bandwagon can also turn its riders irrational and delusional at the same time.

The fact is that Andrew Bynum on the season is averaging 12.5 points, 10.1 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Solid numbers, but also unspectacular ones for sure. There are a quite a few centers around the leagus putting up similar, or better, numbers. Want to take a guess as to who they are? How about Marcus Camby averaging 8.8 points, 14.2 boards and 3.6 blocks? Or Chris Kaman averaging 18.3 points, 13.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks? Or Samuel Dalembert at 11 points, 9.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game? Or even Andris Biedrins, who is averaging 10.7 points, 9.7 boards and 1.4 blocks? We could go on and name at least 3-4 other centers in the L playing just as well as Mr. Bynum. And, then there’s the issue of how Bynum is accumulating those numbers. If you’ve watched any number of Lakers games you know that most of Bynum’s points come from offensive put-backs and alley-oop dunks – hardly the work of one of the 3 best centers in the league. His back-to-the-basket game is still remedial at best.

So, having said all that let us be the first to ease on the brakes and slow this runaway bandwagon down. The reality is that while Andrew Bynum has shown a ton of promise and significant improvement this year, particularly at the ripe young age of 20, his game and his confidence has a long, long way to go. Let’s see Bynum try his alley-oop dunks in the playoffs, when defenses tighten up and the lane is protected like Fort Knox. Let’s see the relatively inexperienced Bynum drag pros like Tim Duncan and Carlos Boozer up and down the court and hold his own in a seven game series. Let’s see Bynum produce in the real, sweat-it-out pressure situations during the playoffs.

Ladies and gentlemen, before we squeeze the accelerator and drive this bandwagon toward an inevitable crash, let’s give the kid some room to grow. Let’s make sure he knows that for the Lakers to be successful in the playoffs this year, one Mr. Odom, not Bynum, needs to be the second offensive option to Kobe Bryant. Let’s bring him along slowly this season, perhaps even moving him back to the bench from Kwame Brown returns from injury, and hope that media hyperbole doesn’t warp his fragile young mind. The Lakers playoff success, this season, and Bynum's continued development in years to come may depend on it.

Team USA experience could be a turning point for Kobe Bryant

If this summer has taught us anything, it’s that Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant has one of the most complex and intriguing personalities in sports. He is at the same time relentlessly loyal, extremely impulsive, and very competitive, easily influenced, sometimes hardheartedly emotional and stubborn to a fault.

Bryant entered his tumultuous summer with a bitter loss to the Phoenix Suns in the fist round of the NBA playoffs for the second straight season, flip-flopped more than former presidential candidate John Kerry on his desire, or lack thereof, to stay with the Lakers, threw a couple of his teammates, most notably Andrew Bynum, under a double-decker bus, proceeded to take a vow of silence without coming to any sort of resolution on his trade demands, and revived Michael Jordan’s original Dream Team role on this year’s Team USA squad by showcasing suffocating defensive play and, shockingly enough, mature leadership. Having begun the summer on a low note and ending it with a seemingly cathartic run in the FIBA Americas Tournament, which finished on Sunday with a triumphant drubbing of Argentina 118-81, Kobe’s roller coaster summer hit the end of the line this week.

Given the positive vibes of the Team USA experience, what is Kobe’s current mindset? Does he remain stubborn and stick to his principles that he holds so dear, and continues to demand a trade out of LA? Or, has the team-first environment and camaraderie of the FIBA experience kindled his other strong personality traits like loyalty to his team?

The second redemption of Kobe Bryant

The key is that Kobe seems to be in a positive state of mind going into Lakers training camp in October, and we believe that he’ll be there, ready to make another run. Not only will he play for the Lakers next season, but the team-first attitude that he put on display at the FIBA Americas Tournament will carry over into the regular season with his NBA squad.

"[Kobe] tried to lobby all of us (to come to L.A.)," Team USA teammate Michael Redd said recently. "We all have tried to lobby everybody to come to our teams. I told Carmelo, there's going to be no tolerance for our teams when we get back to camp."

Wondering why Kobe would be lobbying other NBA stars to come to LA, if he so wants to leave town himself?

In the coming season, expect Kobe Bryant to take yet another step forward in the evolution of his game on the court and his leadership off it. Expect Kobe to trust his teammates on the floor and be more forgiving of their deficiencies.

Unlike last season, he will no longer be alone in shouldering the pressure of the storied Lakers organization and fans. Expect Kobe to lean heavily on his long-time pal Derek Fisher both on and off the court, to relieve some of that burden. Expect Kobe Bryant, just like he did coming off the adulterous debacle in Colorado, to redeem himself and rebuild his image in the upcoming season. He alienated many of his fans with his actions earlier this summer; expect him to erase that bitterness with his play on the court and his candor off it. The Team USA experience seems to have yielded a kindler, gentler Kobe Bryant. Expect him to translate that positive experience into a productive 2007-2008 season with the Lakers.

Lakers will need to reward Kobe’s loyalty

Of course, all of this doesn’t take the Lakers front office off the hook in the least bit. Kobe will continue to demand for added help. The Lakers will surely need to make some moves, because Kobe will keep the pressure on high (hopefully, behind closed doors). Whether it’s using Kwame Brown’s large expiring contract to yield another front-line starter in return, or orchestrating a creative trade for a player like Jermaine O’Neal, owner Jerry Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak will need to improve the talent on the Lakers roster. They owe it to their uber-competitive superstar and they owe it to Laker fans everywhere.

Jermaine O'Neal loves LA

While Kobe takes a vow of silence the likes of which has not been seen since this guy, Jermaine O’Neal continues to tell everyone who will listen (in this case SI.com) about his dream job, playing Center for your 2007-2008 Los Angeles Lakers. In LA for a charity basketball game O’Neal said:

"I would welcome a trade to the Lakers. Indiana has given me the opportunity to establish myself as a really good player in this league, but they're into rebuilding and going really young, and I'm just not in a position physically to go through another five to six years with a lot of losses and a lot of down time."

Pacer’s GM, the legendary Larry Bird responded quickly, but he said just about nothing. His canned GM response was:

“In response to Jermaine O’Neal’s published comments today regarding a trade, we have stated repeatedly that if we can make our team better through a trade, we will do so. Jermaine has become an All-Star player with the Indiana Pacers and in any discussions regarding him or any of our other players, the expectations for the franchise and our fans is to receive fair market value in return if a trade is to be considered. Jermaine has worked out very hard this summer while rehabilitating his knee after surgery. We believe under Jim O’Brien that our team as a whole and Jermaine as a player can be successful. You never know what will happen, but for now Jermaine is an Indiana Pacer.”

What insight! Not that we were expecting Larry Legend to throw his hands up in frustration, publicly give out his cell phone number for anyone interested and go on Larry King to invite NBA, NBDL, CBA and Euro-League GMs to put in early bids for his highly talented, and oft-injured, forward.

Bottom line on the rumors: They mean nothing unless Mitch Kup-cake stops being a lamb and decides to give some direction to this wayward Lakers roster. The last time I checked the Pacers had Travis Deiner and Jamaal Tinsley at point guard – neither of whom are world beaters by any means. Would the Pacers be interested in a talented and athletic, yet somewhat turnover-prone, rookie point guard with solid potential such as Jarvis Crittenden? We know that they’re already enthralled with the kid from Piscataway, New Jersey. It’s time for Kup-cake to play “let’s make a deal” and come out on the winning end for the first time during his ill-fated tenure as Lakers GM. Time for Kup-cake to exorcise the demons of GM Jerry West and put his stamp on this Lakers team.