L.A. Lakers' Andrew Bynum Faces Make or Break Year

Remember 2005?

Ah yes. A year that Lakers fans have tried in vain to forget for so long, in which a lack of a true center (Kwame Brown was our starter) along with the flight of a coach (Rudy Tomjanovich) before the All-Star break led to a 34-48 record.

It was good for last in the Pacific Division, 12th in the Western Conference.

The Lakers missed the playoffs for only the fifth time in franchise history.

On the bright side, a deplorable season usually leads to a good draft, and the Lakers found themselves in unfamiliar territory: the NBA draft lottery.

With the 10th pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the Lakers took a 7 foot, 17-year-old kid out of St. Joseph High School in New Jersey, passing up Nate Robinson, Danny Granger and David Lee.

Four years and one championship later, that kid has become the Andrew Bynum that we all know and (every now and then) love.

Bynum hasn't enjoyed the smoothest of roads, however.

Graceland hasn't been kind to Drew. He's gotten hurt two of the last three times the Lakers have played the Grizzlies in Memphis.

Bynum's been known to spend some of his rehab time balancing Playboy bunnies on his broad shoulders.

And even the all-time scoring champ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar can't counsel Bynum to more than seven points per game during the playoffs, when his team needs him to reach his potential the most.

Centers from elite teams like Shaq, Dwight Howard, Yao Ming (when he's healthy), Tim Duncan and Kendrick Perkins seem to manhandle the Lakers center with ease.

Often, he plays lazily. 

And when he does finally spring into action, he picks up two quick fouls and can see Lamar Odom walking to the scorer's table out of the corner of his eye.

This isn't to say that Bynum and Kwame are one in the same. For starters, Bynum, with all his flaws, can actually catch the ball. Brown still has problems in that department.

My point is that the Lakers had more in mind when they drafted him in 2005.

Spurts of potential do materialize every now and then, usually before he receives a contract extension or right before the Lakers visit FedEx Forum to face the not-so-mighty Grizzlies.

For his stats, Bynum has to be one of the highest paid players in the league. Some fans view him and his agent (also named David Lee) as the reason that Trevor Ariza is now the interim franchise player for the Houston Rockets while Tracy McGrady is out.

(Mr. Lee represents both Bynum and Ariza, and because he did such a good job getting Bynum his money, there wasn't enough money for Ariza, who played a much bigger role in the Lakers winning it all in 2009 than Bynum did.)

Many people feel that this is truly a make-or-break year for the 21-year-old. And that if he doesn't materialize into the center that we all know he can be, that he can take his 6.5 points per game elsewhere.

He might have been there for every game in the playoffs, but according to the stat sheets, he only truly showed up in a few of these games. He needs to get tougher, become more aware and play stronger.

I'm all for the kid...if he delivers.