Andrew Bynum Is Emerging

Andrew Bynum began his professional career on a pretty high note. When the Lakers drafted him 10th overall in the 2005 NBA draft, he became the youngest player to be drafted in the history of the league at 17 years, 244 days old.

In the Lakers first game of the season, Bynum played six minutes becoming the youngest player to play in the league at 18 years, six days. Bynum finished his rookie season with zero starts and averaging less than two points a game. The following year, Bynum played in all 82 games and started 53 of them. He got about eight points a game in an average of 22 minutes a game.

Last season, Bynum looked like the player that L.A. drafted him to be. In 35 games, he was averaging a double-double with 13 points, 10 points, and two blocks. At this point, “Diesel II” looked like he was finally fitting into his new position on the team.

But, in a game against Memphis in mid-January, Andrew partially dislocated his kneecap after landing awkwardly on Lamar Odom’s foot. Bynum would miss the rest of the season and underwent arthroscopic surgery in March. Bynum assured the team that he was 100 percent healthy and was ready to begin working out strenuously.

The Lakers obviously believed in him, as they signed him to a four-year, $58 million deal. So, Bynum had a lot to live up to coming into this year. The Lakers put a lot of money into him and he hadn’t played a full season as a starter.

So far this year, Bynum has played at least 21 minutes in all but one game and is averaging 14 points, 8 rebounds, and two blocks. But, it seems like Andrew is just getting comfortable in his new role. Just a few days ago against the Clippers, Bynum scored a career high 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and blocked three shots. He followed up that performance with 23 points and 14 rebounds against the Washington Wizards.

Now, some called these performances flukes because neither of those teams have a dominant big man to size up against him. Well, today was Bynum’s shot to prove the critics wrong. All the time Bynum spent on the court, he was matched up against Tim Duncan.

Andrew finished with 15 points, 11 boards, and four blocks, and Duncan had 15 points and 8 rebounds, both in three quarters of work. So, not only is Bynum excelling his offensive game, which can be attributed to his work with Kareem Abdul Jabbar, he is also starting to improve his defensive game as well.

If Bynum can make defense his top priority for the next offseason, and his 15-foot game comes with time, Mini Kareem can establish himself among the top centers in the game.

"No. 1, Tim Duncan is my favorite player…I want to show everybody that I can play at this level." - Andrew Bynum after today’s game vs. the Spurs

Original Article: http://thegameison.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/andrew-bynum-is-emerging/