Andrew Bynum: Growing Up Fast
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by user The Beast
Most 17, 18, or 19 year olds are college frat guys. Going to parties, playing video games, running around. attending football games, etc. This certainly isn't the case for Lakers starting center Andrew Bynum.
Since that young age of 17, Andrew Bynum has carried the label as the youngest NBA player in history. Fighting age, Bynum has worked his way into the Lakers' starting lineup this year due to injuries to Centers Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown.
Last year, their were a couple of games where you could start to see the potential. Like the infamous game against Shaquille O'Neal where for a couple of minutes, Baby looked like the Man, posterizing Shaq with a dunk over the Big Fella.
Then this season Kwame goes down with an injury early in the season and Bynum takes over the starting role. He was impressive enough to make some Laker fans wonder if Kwame would get his job back. He didn't for a few games but eventually was put back into the starting role. Bynum continued to play impressively off the bench and was again the starter after Kwame injured himself for a second time this season.
In January, Bynum became the Double Double Man, averaging 11 PPG, 10 RPG, and a league leading 2.6 blocks per game. Before Lamar came back, Bynum was the Lakers only noticable interior defense player.
When Kwame came back just three games ago, Bynum still maintained the starting spot for the time being.
While, Bynum has certainly held down the fort, there are still plenty of times when he still looks like the "rookie" out there. He has the job of guarding some of the best and most dominate players in the league. And he has to try to score on them as well.
It has been often said that Bynum is the future of the franchise. There will come a time when Bynum will not relinquish the starting center position and truly become a bonified NBA big man. However, is that time now? Many questions still surround Bynum. Can he become a consistant defensive stopper? Can he score reliably? And most of all, is Bynum the next great Laker center? Over the remaining course of this season, we will begin to gather clues and see if Bynum can eventually become a dominant big man.
Also published at http://socalsportsblog.blogspot.com/2007/03/bynum.html
