danfantastk32 wrote:mastermixer wrote:Guess what? His career got derailed by injuries. But he changed his from a finisher at the rim, to a dominate post-up player while he could still play.
Bynum deserves some respect as a Laker.
I would add that I don't think Bynum had much passion for the sport. He didn't love it. If I remember my history correctly, he had a nasty growth spurt around 17, and Basketball had never been on his radar until then. I think he saw the $$$ (who wouldn't?) and that why he was here. Many coaches said he was hard to work with....lacked discipline, or any of that work ethic / passion to give that extra bit.
But the guy was a beast for half of 2007/8. He was tearing it up. We were #1 in the west when he went down (Ten 50+ win teams that year in the west, btw)...which was before Pau...and either before Ariza, or like 3 games with Ariza.
Big contributor to our 2 titles....no doubt. I got no hate for the guy. He certainly deserves respect for what he did here. But I'm glad we moved him, and wish we'd done it a year or two earlier.
What's always surprised me with Bynum is that for all the talk of his lack of discipline and work ethic, he must still have worked his butt off if he only started caring about basketball when he was 17. Because the moves he had were basketball moves, not random athleticism that could get him by. He had polished hook shots, very good footwork, and an impressive back to the basket game, and he must have had to work for it.
