Andrew Bynum needs minor arthroscopic surgery

Andrew Bynum planted hard with both feet and rose for what usually would be an easy two-handed slam. But with his sore right knee throbbing, the Los Angeles Lakers’ 7-foot center felt like he had a “flat tire” as he barely lifted the basketball over the rim. As Bynum jogged down the floor gingerly, his knee covered by a bulky black brace, he looked like he was running in sand. Bynum has been riddled by knee injuries for three straight seasons, and the latest has again come at an inopportune time, a small tear in his right meniscus that he suffered last Friday. Despite the injury, he gutted out 8 points and 10 rebounds in just 24 minutes after being listed as questionable entering the Lakers’ 104-99 Game 1 victory over the Utah Jazz in the Western Conference semifinals at Staples Center. Yahoo! Sports

While Bynum has been told minor arthroscopic surgery could sideline him for about “one or two weeks,” he has opted to gut it out the rest of the way in the Lakers’ potentially long quest to repeat as champions. “It’s there every step,” Bynum said about the knee pain. “But I think its something that I can go through to the end of this year. Landing and pushing off are the worst two [things]. But that’s normal with my injury. I just have to be aware of it and be careful when I come down and stuff like that.” Yahoo! Sports

But while surgery is possible for Bynum at season’s end, he’d prefer to play with pain now and figure out the rest later. “Even the surgery for this, if it gets to that point, I think most people come back in one or two weeks,” Bynum said. “Jordan [Farmar] had it. …He had the exact same thing I had and looked great. Brandon Roy, too. He came back in seven days.” So why not have surgery? “Because … I don’t know. I’m just good. I’m going to ride it until I need to have it. I don’t need it now. I’d rather play like this now,” Bynum said. Yahoo! Sports

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Bynum needs to do a few things this summer.
1) Have the minor arthroscopic surgery.
2) Knee rehabilitation which should not be long at all.
3) Work on cardio everyday.
4) Lose 20 pounds or 5-10 if he comes back more muscular.

tj

doode cant stay healthy...it's constant. Troubling.

Credit to Bynum, I think, for playing with the pain. He's gotten a lot of shit from Laker fans because they perceive he won't play with pain. Well, this pretty much puts that to bed.

His condition will certainly get no better as these playoffs wear on. In fact, there's a good chance it could get worse. He had a "very small" tear in the meniscus in his right knee and, due to a hyperextension last game, got worse and is now a "small" tear, according to the Lakers team. Once a joint is weak from injury, the odds of it getting hurt worse increases.

I said "I think" above because it might behoove him, and the Lakers, to have this surgery now rather than wait. It's a 1-2 week recovery time and the team they're playing against is without their starting center, Okur, and will be without their starting SF for another 2 games minimum (Kirilenko). If there was a good time in the playoffs for the Lakers to live without Bynum, this might be it. Even if the Lakers sweep the Jazz (ending that series on 5/10) and the Suns sweep the Spurs (ending that series on 5/9), the WCF probably won't start until 5/12 or 5/13 at the earliest. Today is 5/4, so that means that Bynum could be back by the second game of the WCF even if it started at the earliest possible date.

If the knee becomes significantly worse because Bynum injures it further, it could affect his career. A full-blown knee injury (as opposed to the 'minor' injury he has now) will almost certainly diminish his trade value, should the Lakers feel the need to make a change in the offseason. And, if Bynum is 'injury-prone', which he has himself now admitted (source LA Times: "I guess I am kind of injury-prone," said Bynum, who missed 32 games last season, 47 in 2007-08 and 17 games this season before sustaining a pain-inducing tear in cartilage in his right knee last week.), it will diminish his value to his team even if he stays.


bob

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bobh,

I don't get the impression that Bynum is a quick healer. Add that to the fact that he is not in great shape like Brandon Roy and that 7-10 day recovery could easily become 3+ weeks.
Outside of Dwight Howard he doesn't have a bad match up the rest of the playoffs.
Gasol will guard KG, Varejo, Duncan, and any quicker PF's/Centers.
He is big and long enough to do well against Perk/Shaq/Stoudamire/Big Z, Lopez etc.

tjmakz wrote:bobh,

I don't get the impression that Bynum is a quick healer. Add that to the fact that he is not in great shape like Brandon Roy and that 7-10 day recovery could easily become 3+ weeks.
Outside of Dwight Howard he doesn't have a bad match up the rest of the playoffs.
Gasol will guard KG, Varejo, Duncan, and any quicker PF's/Centers.
He is big and long enough to do well against Perk/Shaq/Stoudamire/Big Z, Lopez etc.

TJ,

You're probably right about Bynum not being a quick healer. It seems like every injury of his, and there has been a few in a short career so far, takes longer to come back from than is predicted.

He'd do fine against Shaq and Z, since they move at glacial speeds. I think Perk would outrun him downcourt ESPECIALLY if he's having trouble running. Lopez too, if Lopez is smart and runs on him. To be seen...

bob

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Outside of OKC, LA won't give up many fast break points in the playoffs.
Perk doesn't score on the break, his points are almost always from shots near the basket from Rondo passes or from offensive rebounds.
Lopez has no outside shot so Bynum can play off of him or can play Stoudamire who is an exclusive inside player.

I would love to see a foot race between Shaq, Z, Bynum and Perk. I don't care who wins/looses but it would be funny as hell...