Andrew Bynum (born October 27, 1987 in Plainsboro,
New Jersey) is an American professional basketball
player who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers of the
National Basketball Association (NBA). He was
drafted 10th overall in 2005. His nickname is
"A-Train".
Andrew Bynum was selected 10th overall in the 2005
NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Lakers. After selecting
him in the draft, the Lakers hired Hall of Fame
center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a special assistant to
work with the team's big men, especially Bynum. On
November 2, 2005, during the Lakers' season opener
against the Denver Nuggets, Bynum played six minutes
and became the youngest player ever to play in an
NBA game at 18 years and 6 days old. During the
game, he missed his two field goal attempts but had
two rebounds and two blocked shots. This record will
likely last for the foreseeable future, as the new
collective bargaining agreement between NBA owners
and the NBA Players Association requires players
entering the draft to be at least one year removed
from the graduation of their high school class and
reach age 19 no later than December 31 of the
calendar year of the draft. In the 2005-06 NBA
season, he was the youngest player in the league.
A memorable sequence of events took place in a game
against the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006,
beginning when Shaquille O'Neal dunked over Bynum,
knocking the rookie to the floor. On the next play,
Bynum got the ball in the low post, faked right,
then spun left around O'Neal and dunked the ball. He
celebrated as he ran down the court and pushed
O'Neal, who retaliated by swinging an arm into
Bynum's upper chest. Both players received technical
fouls for the incident.
With Lakers centers Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown
injured at the start of the 2006-07 season, Bynum
served as their starting center for the beginning of
the season. He finished the season with averages of
7.8 points and 5.9 rebounds, in just over 21 minutes
per game. He also averaged 1.6 blocks per game. He
has surprised many with how quickly his skills have
developed. Bynum has already shown his improvement
both on the offensive and defensive ends. Famous
basketball instructional coach Pete Newell has also
been impressed with Bynum's development, and
recently stated that teammate Kobe Bryant should
back off on his criticism towards Bynum. On December
25, 2007 in a game against the Suns, Bynum scored a
career-high 28 points.
As the Lakers looked to change the lineup
(especially after a recent Kobe Bryant trade demand)
many teams made offers for Bynum, including the New
Jersey Nets and the Indiana Pacers. Mitch Kupchak,
General Manager of the Lakers, put to rest rumors of
the team trading Bynum by commenting, "We're not
going to trade Andrew." Recently, the Lakers
exercised a fourth year contract option on him.
On January 13, 2008, he suffered an injury during a
game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Bynum attempted
to grab a rebound and landed awkwardly on teammate
Lamar Odom's left foot. He has been sidelined with a
partially dislocated kneecap. It was reported that
he could have returned before the end of the 2007-08
season, but in the end, he did not. It was then
expected that Bynum would be back by the first round
of the playoffs, but he never ended up making an
appearance. On April 21, Lakers coach Phil Jackson
said that he did not foresee Bynum to making serious
contributions any time soon. On May 18 the Lakers
announced that he would undergo arthroscopic surgery
3 days later for "cleanup of some rough spots and
fraying on the underside of Bynum's kneecap". A
timetable for his return will be released after the
procedure.
