Why Lakers need a mature Bynum

Ever since the trade deadline has ended, Lakers fans have relaxed a bit. Lakers have shown a record of 8-4 since acquiring Ramon Sessions. They have won five games out of their last six games. It seems all is well on-court. But off-court, Lakers are in a deep chaos. First it was the drama of benching Kobe Bryant which led to lots of speculations about the handling of team by coach Mike Brown. Latest among these antics is the mime of Andrew Bynum.

His list of follies is piling up. Shooting ill-advised three-point shots in games, getting benched and joking about it with teammates. Insisting on taking more three-point shots when speaking with the media. Not joining in team huddles during timeouts. Playing loud music in the Lakers locker room and reportedly being “disrespectful” to staff and teammates for the past three weeks.

If this is not all then the latest news is that Bynum was fined an undisclosed amount for “numerous infractions” by the Lakers. Apparently, one of the events that caused the Lakers to pull the trigger on issuing the punishment was Bynum blowing off a meeting with Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak.

What’s most irritating among all these is that Bynum has the potential to become the best center in the league. Bynum is averaging 17.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game, which are both his career highs. He’s also averaging 18.7 possessions per game compared to 11.9 last season. Bynum, for the first time, was nominated in the all-star game.

Every time Bynum gives a performance like he gave against Los Angeles Clippers, Lakers chances of getting the 17 ring shoots upwards. Bynum scored 36 points and added eight rebounds and four blocks against Clippers.

His presence is necessary for the team to make it to the top and obviously the team knows it too. Recall what has happened in the starting four games of this season when Bynum was not allowed to play because of a foul he committed last year. The Lakers could have easily won two of their games had Bynum played in those four matches.

Bynum is still 24 years old and is far away from his prime, but despite that he is an invaluable asset to the team’s offense and defense. To put it simply Lakers cannot afford further defiance from it’s center as the playoffs are approaching near.

He will never reach his true potential if he doesn’t mature soon enough. And sadly if he doesn’t then Lakers would have to pay the price in the form of another painful off season.