Bynum has setback, says other knee hurting also
Andrew Bynum says he's had a setback to get on the court with the Sixers, saying there is swelling and cartilage damage in left knee.
Bynum has setback, says other knee hurting also
Bob Cooney
And the mystery surrounding Andrew Bynum and his knees continues.
Bynum met with the media a couple of minutes ago and said:
"I had a little bit of a setback. Just working through some issues with the right knee I kind of have a mirror thing going on with the left knee. I don't know what's going on. The doctors are saying it's a weakened cartilage state so we kind of wait, I guess. We can't do anything. I just have to wait for the cartilage to get strong."
"It's the same exact spot (as the right knee) with the cartilage. Just doing routine things and it started swelling up. No blunt force injury or anything like that. It's the same timetable still."
The team announced earlier this week that Bynum would hopefully be back on the court around December 10 and then have up to a month to get himself in shape and then return to the club. Whether this latest setback hinders that, Bynum would not say that, more because it seemed he just doesn't know. He will continue with swimming and other low impact excersizing.
"Both knees are swelling, but we've got it under control. (The pain is ok when doing) every day activities. The more I do the higher it is. Actually this is a weird issue. I've never had any cartilage issues. I had a meniscus thing but that's fine, we don't know what's going on. It's just from running and playing basketball (for years). I didn't twinst my knee or anything like that."
(UPDATE 6:56 P.M.:) From Tony DiLeo:
From our point of view it’s a situation where we have to continue to be patient. We want to be cautious. We’re looking long term not short term and big picture. We’re going to do what is best for Andrew and best for the organization and try to get him as healthy as he can be and try to get him back on the court when he is ready.
His body will be the indicator, when he’s feeling good, when that pain subsides from his knees when he can step up in his rehab and do more strenuous activities, that will be the indicator. A date is very difficult, as you know. We just want to get him healthy and get him out there when he’s ready. We think we have a good team now and when he’s ready to get out there we’ll have a better team. In the end we want to see our complete team with Andrew out there.
Plain and simple we’re trying to rehab his knees so they’re healthy and he can get out there and play like he did last season. That’s our goal. When he’s ready, and it’s hard to predict when he’ll be ready, hopefully sooner than later. Main concern is Andrew’s health. Main concern is big picture. We want to have a long relationship with him.
I think it’s the same time table because both knees have to heal. That’s what we’re going with. When the pain subsides, when he can do more strenuous activities, when we can get him out on the court to basketball activities we’ll know a lot more.
He’ll be reevaluated in mid-December, he’ll have another MRI and we’ll see what the progress is. The players have to be confident that they can play. You cannot ask a player to play injured. Whenever he feels confident that he can get out there and he’s healthy and he can help the team, we both want the same goal. We don’t want a player going out there injured and maybe creating more injury or more damage. This is a situation when he feels confident, when the doctors feel confident that everything’s OK, that’s when he’ll be back on the court.
He saw his doctor a couple of days ago. He had an MRI on his left knee.
This Bynum thing isn't gonna work out too good— dude- Can anyone say Stiff!!!— waltv
- This is a disaster. Let good players walk and trade away good young players. Sixers will be lucky to be a 500 team.— joeynick
- Cartilage and meniscus are diferent names for the same thing.— Unstable1
- we just can't buy a break.— rzzzzz
- I haven't been this disappointed with a Sixer since Phil E. Moose.— AreaMan
- What did ownership know, and when did they know it?
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— Quixote II - well not good but who cares it such the 76ers the bags of the NBA
who cares it just the 76ers the bags of the NBA
— amita2000 - the longer this goes, the more i think "Jeff Ruland" all over again.— flyerphann
- what me worry? kwame brown is back!!!!— malco49
This guy is a lemon. Can the Sixers get a refund?- what a disaster. I was never an Iggy fan, but his defense is sure missed on this team. and we gave away harkness too, for nothing. there is no way I sign this guy to a long term deal, even if he does get on the court this year.— blaqjaq
- My over/under just went from 30 games to 10 as the projected number Andrew Bynum will play as a Sixer. The guys had better get used to playing without any inkling that Bynum will be a part of the team and do as well as they can....i.e. win anywhere from 36-44 games this year. On the other hand, maybe they should just tank the season and hope for the top one or two draft picks.— john newlin
- "No BLOUNT force injury or anything like that."
C'mon man!— ledzep123 - i love that they are thinking long term, when the dude hasn't played a single game and has knee problems in BOTH knees... they BETTER not sign him— main liner
Bob Cooney has been at the Daily News for more than 20 years, working in the sports department for the past 15. This is his third season on the Sixers beat. He has covered just about everything, but mostly college basketball, where he was the La Salle beat writer for six seasons. E-mail Bob at cooneyb@phillynews.com and follow him on Twitter.
