As Andrew Bynum’s questionable behavior continues to raise concerns within the Lakers organization and among the team’s fans, former coach Phil Jackson implores the young center’s critics to just chill.
"Bynum is not quite mature, but everyone should relax and watch him grow up," Jackson, who coached Bynum for six seasons, wrote in an email to the Los Angeles Times. "This year has been a big step for him offensively...nice to see...and when he takes up the mantle as defensive captain the Lakers can get back in the hunt."
So far this season, Bynum has hoisted up ill-advised 3-point shots and said he’d continue to shoot them despite being benched for it, not joined team huddles and given flippant answers as to why, complained about his role in the offense, and blown off a meeting with general manager Mitch Kupchak. Bynum’s been fined a total of either $5,000 or $7,500 by the team for some of this conduct, the Times reports.
He was also recently ejected in a loss to the Rockets after taunting the Houston bench. As recently as Monday against the Hornets, Bynum was booed by Hornets fans after a “bizarre foul on point guard Greivis Vasquez above the three-point line after not getting a call at the other end,” The Times notes.
All this followed a violent foul against J.J. Barea in last year’s playoffs for which he was suspended for the first five games this season.
The Lakers, according to the report, have been “unhappy with Bynum's defense the last few weeks, thinking he is focusing too much on offense.” Also, his rebounding has declined from 13.7 a game in February to 10.9 a game in March to 9.4 through five games in April.
Kupchak has maintained, however, that Bynum will be a key part of the Lakers' future
Bynum’s behavior is “something he has to deal with because they need him on the court,” Lakers Hall of Fame center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who has acted as mentor for Bynum, told The Times. “He needs to figure out a way to stay out there."
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