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DENVER – Just to be clear, it was Andrew Bynum who told his agent to settle for less and get the deal done.

That doesn't happen every day in our sports world. Then again, Bynum is not nearly your average NBA adolescent.

Oh, he is still juvenile, to be sure — just in a way that doesn't make the owner paying him and the general manager signing him worry about something going bump in the night. That's why no one with the Lakers was the least bit shaken by him being caught on video "making it rain" dollar bills at his 21st birthday party in a Hollywood nightclub.

Said Bynum: "We went back and forth, back and forth. Finally, I told my agent, 'Look, I want to be a Laker. Let's get the deal done.' "

The open market of restricted free agency was all set up to dictate better terms for Bynum after he came through this season healthy. But he took what was offered now, acknowledging that in so doing he "sort of minimized the team's risk."

So why did Bynum give in? To use Kupchak's verbiage, he's "unique."

chump maybe!


http://www.ocregister.com/articles/bynum-lakers-game-2214288-contract-deal

im happy hes still a laker. Hopefully he puts up big numbers to show that he was worth that money.

Nice to hear Bynum took control instead of letting his (Please Use More Appropriate Word) agent run the show like some other people *cough: EB: cough*.

Nice, there's a refreshing side to an athlete. Good Kid.

Bynum is a good guy... this contract really isn't his big payout anyways. When He's 25 he'll be negotiating for the max. It's wise for him to be patient and build up his legacy by playing on this Lakers team. I'm thinking he's going to get 3 championships minimum over the next 5.

I hope Kobe and Lamar do the same this summer as well. What we got going on right now is too good to break up. Get the egos and greed in check and win some championships.

This is what I was saying all alone, agents work for the player not the other way around.

The way negotiations should be -- both sides got something they wanted, and both sides gave something in return.

I must admit, I thought Drew and his agent were in total lock step. Good to see he wants to be here as badly as he does. Although I have to say, there's something innately ridiculous, even in the bizarro world of pro sports, about praising a guy for taking less when he's still going to be pulling down $58 million that he hasn't really earned yet.

Regardless, less is still less, so props to him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we use that extra cash we saved to keep as much of this team together as we can as opposed to improving Jerry's bottom line.

^Agreed. I think if we win this season then the odds of the former are much greater.

Hail, Chief Bynum. How refreshing. I can't say enough how much I like the maturity of this kid. When it comes to the big picture, Bynum seems to have a very clear sense of what's right and what's wrong. He seems wise beyond his years. Remember last year when Kobe was saying "Andrew who?" on that video clip, how maturely he responded to that? I love this kid. Can't wait to see him growing into that dominant player he started becoming before the injury. Team player, indeed.

didn't want it to become a distraction all year, and i don't blame him

Very good Drew, I think you will be the next great Lakers Center. I'm glad he took control, I think his agent was getting on all of our nerves

good read...........thanks for posting it