Bynum out 8-to-12 weeks with torn ligament

February 2nd, 2009, 12:04 pm · 19 Comments · posted by KEVIN DING, OCREGISTER.COM

NEW YORK — Andrew Bynum has a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee and is estimated to miss 8-to-12 weeks.

The news is not devastating to the Lakers, but it is certainly disappointing. He projects to return before the end of the regular season, if he can recover sooner than later. Eight weeks could mean a March 29 return, with 10 regular-season games left. Twelve weeks would mean two weeks into the NBA playoffs.

It will be a similar situation as last year, when the Lakers thought Bynum could make it back late in the season — but he never did. He wound up undergoing surgery on his left knee in May.

The Lakers also faced a similar situation in 2004, when Karl Malone tore his right MCL and there was a lot of internal controversy about whether it was just sprained or significantly torn. He made it back late in the season but then injured it again in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against Detroit, severely undercutting the Lakers’ championship hopes.

Malone was hurt in late December from his initial injury and returned in mid-March — about a 12-week absence for an injury that he believed should’ve been categorized as a tear from the beginning instead of a sprain. The internal controversy over a timetable for that injury was memorable enough for Lakers coach Phil Jackson to make reference to it earlier this season when saying he didn’t want to create a timetable for how long Jordan Farmar was going to be sidelined.

The challenge for Bynum will be to make it back soon enough to acclimatize his game with his teammates’ game, which will revert back to Pau Gasol at center and some challenges on defense. The idea that Bynum will be available for the postseason is reassuring to the Lakers, as that is when they will need their defense the most.

Jackson said last season that Bynum would ideally return for several regular-season games to get into a flow of playing again for the playoffs, and the goal this season will be the same. Whatever the case, the Lakers figure to be better prepared to endure the process after what they went through last season without Bynum.

“We know we’re going to miss his presence, his rebounding ability, but this is a very capable team,” Jackson said.

It will be challenging for the Lakers to achieve their goal of the best regular-season record in the NBA, though. They are in Game 3 of a stretch of 21 out of 30 games on the road. And they had just been adapting to Bynum achieving dominant status to go with All-Stars Kobe Bryant and Gasol.

“Having Andrew in the lineup makes us a dominant team,” Bryant said. “With him out of the lineup, we’re still a great team. You put him in the mix, it takes us to another level.”

The Lakers are 1 1/2 games behind Boston (40-9) for the best record in the NBA, although both Cleveland and the Lakers — at 37-9 — have three games in hand. The Lakers have a five-game lead in the West over San Antonio.

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titi says:

February 2, 2009 at 12:18 pm

kevin, what’s up with andrew’s ‘people’ why is it that they make such a big deal about andrew’s injuries?

i don’t know, but i think the lakers know he is done for the season and the playoffs, he doesn’t allow others to look at him or give him suggestions, he just listens to his doctor, the one that didn’t know andrew needed surgery and missed the entire year.

can’t the lakers do anything?

matt says:

February 2, 2009 at 12:21 pm

this is a major bummer to say the least. no way we get past cleveland in the finals w/o AB. i am not holding my breath for a playoff return like last year. Odom is soft and he won’t ever get it done….only plus is Trevor Ariza on the defensive end…but this is a major blow.

alexwillens says:

February 2, 2009 at 12:31 pm

We can still do this. We were 2 games away last year. There is no team in the West that can touch us, even without Bynum. The East is tough, but Ariza can help on D, everyone is a year older and more mature, and frankly none of the teams in the East can stop Kibe. Boston doesnt have Posey to slow him down until the help comes on the double. We can beat all those teams without Bynum, and who knows maybe we get him back in time.

Joseph says:

February 2, 2009 at 12:33 pm

We got to the finals last season without Bynum and we can very well do it this season. The plus is we have Ariza who we didn’t have during the finals. Besides, this isn’t a partially dislocated kneecap where they found damage on the back of the kneecap that needed to be cleaned. This is just a ligament injury that will heal itself with some rest and rehab. Nothing to fret over. Knowing the Lakers doctors and his youth, I wouldn’t be surprised to see him back in 6-8 weeks.

Perk says:

February 2, 2009 at 12:53 pm

First of all I hope for a speedy recovery for Bynum. As a Spurs fan you always want to beat a team that is at full strength. Looks like the Spurs are gonna wrap up the West this year. Good luck next year Laker fans.

Keith Russell says:

February 2, 2009 at 1:23 pm

We are done!

Andrew just needs to sit out the entire month of January from now on and avoid playing against the Memphis Grizzlies!

See ya next year….THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO WAY THE LAKERS WILL WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP THIS YEAR NOW!

February 2, 2009 at 1:25 pm

We’re done for the year!

gdchild says:

February 2, 2009 at 1:27 pm

Hope for Andrew’s speedy and full recovery.

anaheim86 says:

Bynum wont be out for the whole season..that type of injury isnt that bad…i see alot of patients that recover alot faster and have more damage then e does..there also no-athletes…bynum will do fine..its up to him on how fast he wants to recover..come on now he has the best of the best working with him…he will recover soon enough..then u will see him and kobe hugg..and hold that trophy way up high..

KB24 black mamba says:

February 2, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Last year the reason Lakers made it to the finals coz teams weren’t paying attention to them. with all the attention the Lakers are getting now, teams are really gearing up and preparing for the Lakers. It will be really hard to go back to that road specially without Drew. I’m hoping he’ll recover quick to help this team back to the finals. But on the bright side we still have Mamba! knowing KB24, he will do whatever it takes to carry this team night in and night out. Guys will just have to pick it up and put some extra juice on every game, specially Lamar and Radmanovic!

Appreciate the concern and respect Perks but saying that Spurs wrapping up the west is still a long shot. We still have KB24 and Gasol on the team last time i checked

calvin says:

February 2, 2009 at 1:36 pm

I hope Bynum becomes healthy so he can watch the celtics or cav’s hoist the champoinship trophy :-)

Dan says:

February 2, 2009 at 1:46 pm

First off: Do any of these people leaving comments know anything about grammar. I can’t believe that society has become such blog-mentality, text-messaging mess that people have forgotten how to use punctuation.

Back to the Lakers: As much as I don’t like him, I think the obvious choice is Shaq. He’s been lobbying hard to come back to the Lakers. He’s resigned himself to the fact that he has no chance of winning a championship anywhere else, at least not where anyone would want him. I can’t imagine that Phoenix would want much to get rid of him, and his contract, since they were in first place without him and barely made the playoffs with him. He doesn’t have that many years left and I’m sure he’d love to retire with one more ring, as a Laker. He’s still a good offensive center and can definitely fill the lane on defense. But mostly, Shaq has the perfect ego for this situation. When he went to Miami he EXCELLED just to show the Lakers. Coming back he would do the same thing……….just to show the Lakers

sportsguy says:

February 2, 2009 at 2:41 pm

Shaq? Let me think on that one!!!!!!

Lakers714 says:

February 2, 2009 at 2:49 pm

I also think Shaq coming back would be awesome! Would Kobe want that though? He always wanted to win one without Shaq, but I also think it would be different this time around because Shaq would be in the supporting role and Kobe would be the go to guy!

Scooby says:

February 2, 2009 at 3:18 pm

Shaq has been lobbying hard to come back to the Lakers? This is news to me. Please elaborate!

February 2, 2009 at 3:19 pm

The Shaq trade wouldn’t happen. The Lakers would have to offer up some big time pieces and the Suns would never do that kind of favor to the Lakers. Back to reality, as far as San Antonio goes, they cannot match up with the Lakers even with Bynum gone. The Lakers are just too deep, too athletic, too long and too good. Bowen can’t shut down Kobe and Ariza and Kobe are capable of giving Manu fits. Duncan and Gasol more or less offset each other and as good as Tony Parker is, he’s just not enough. The Spurs don’t have the depth or anything to go 7 games with the Lakers.

Talking on the playoffs though, I find it interesting that everyone talks as if Bynum is done for the year. Lets face facts guys, its a torn MCL, that’s it. Last year, Bynum had a bone bruise and a dislocation of the kneecap. After that healed, Bynum still had a lingering issue which came up when he got scoped after the season (should have happened MUCH earlier) and they cleaned out the cartilage and other debris as well as smoothed out the back of his kneecap.

To you Dan. English and punctuation have never been my thing. I’ve always been a math guy and have had the unfortunant displeasure of being around bad english teachers. The one time I had a good english teacher who was willing to help me get on track, the school decided to rip the teacher from the class 6 weeks in and placed him into another. I then got a teacher I’d had a prior history of clashing with and the rest is history. It sucks but I try to mask it as best I can here in my adult years.

February 2, 2009 at 3:35 pm

talk about the lakers and bynum..not grammer…who really cares…are we being tested on this? this isnt a test…its a blog…come on people…

its sad that the laker fans have no faith in the lakers…!! bynum isnt the whole team you know…he helped out quite a bit….now everyone esle is gonna have to step it up…and thats that..

Byum DOES NOT HAVE THAT BAD OF A INJURY…look it up people…i work in the medical field..and for orthopeadic surgens..i see this all the time…non athletes heal with in that time frame…bynum has been working on strengthening his knees since last year injury…its all up to him to see how fast he wants to heal….and hes only 21…not 31..big difference in the healing factor…plus they didnt say how bad the tear was..? if it was that bad he would need surgery..but notice how that word wasnt written once….

the spurs couldnt handle the 2nd team..kobe sat out the whole 4th Q..and still got worked..oh ya…bynum did as well….ha ha ha the spurs wont have a chance…

ARIZA will be that factor

Vintrone says:

February 2, 2009 at 4:32 pm

I believe Bynum will be back with enough games before the playoffs. He might have suffered a grade III MCL injury which requires rest and rehab to heal. I wish him quick recovery as he is an X-factor for this team’s success. Phil might consider giving more minutes to Mihm to put him in better shape.

Pancho says:

February 2, 2009 at 9:47 pm

First ,the Spurs will never win a championship. Lakers will sooner or later. Bynum will return to push for this year.

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