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?
§
— 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
- oh COME on.— ICDogg
- Any time the Lakers are looking to deal a player, it's obvious the player has issues. That organization does NOT trade a player they think can help them win a title. It was obvious from the start he was damaged goods. Just do NOT sign him to a long term max extension. At least the cap space is there next year....— cdedrick05
- He's the Chase Utley of basketball!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— McGooter
- Reminds me of when the Phils traded Gio Gnzalez for Freddy Garcia. How did that work out?— McGooter
- How did he pass his physical before the trade? The so called "good knee" must of showed signs of wear and tear.— AJL99
- We always seem to pay the loads big money.— johneyes
- SIGH ...— FishFryFrank
- they shouldn't be too cautious with him. they have to evaluate his pain tolerance. watching him play the last 30 games of the season isn't enuf [and he's only 24]— fillyfan
- Why am I in my "wayback" machine looking at the Jeff Ruland trade.— Bob K
- it will take all the wizardry the front office has to muster to make last summer's trade pay off. this man is permanently chronically injured and should only be signed if he is willing to take much less money in an incentive laden contract. otherwise let him walk and start over. do not compound the problem by tying an anchor to this fragile vessel.— barrywil
- I liked the article today about tickets on stubhub for 40 cents. After one season they jack the prices up to where they were with the old ownership. Overpriced for the quality of play— bababooey2yall
- Well, at least they haven't drawn up that "philly max" ... yet.
I'm not a doctor but it sounds like maybe his cartilage hasn't taken well to that Orthokine procedure. You know, the one the FDA won't approve here in the states - I have a question for everyone.
If you can sign Bynum for 5 years knowing that you can have him playing at a high level, but only from mid Febuary through the playoffs every year for the 5 years, would you sign him?— johnGiam - yes, but I would offer less money than he is probably willing to take. the Kobe-led, salary cap-ignoring Lakers could afford to pay him 15+ million, let him rest most of a season, and tune up for the playoffs. the Sixers cannot. unless Jrue takes great steps forward, there is no monster star here to carry the load. furthermore, as I have said before even with a healthy Bynum this team will not win a title until there is a player on their roster they drafted who is top 5 at his position. IMO with a healthy Bynum they are still incomplete unless Holiday becomes a superstar. — barrywil
- hahahahahahaha. What a joke. I am soooo glad I didn't buy Sixers tix. Not only isn't he getting BETTER....he's getting WORSE! And he's doing NOTHING!— scootch
- And I hope Bynum gets a refund for those Synvisc injections. They obviously are not working! Maybe even file a lawsuit against that quack in Germany for that fake plasma therapy.— scootch
- Bynum had the ortho treatment in Sep on both knees,designed to increase cartilage. But,in Bynum`s case it seems to have produced bone bruise,and inflamation. The question now is will it be chronic,or subside. Either the treatment wasn`t done properly or Bynum`s body had a bad reaction to it.— boogsbell
- Man, this being a die hard Sixer fan is just torture....doesn't the law of averages say at some point we get a break or is our scouting department just that awful that we can't stumble into a good trade? I mean how many broken down stiffs can one team possibly sign in a decade?— dave13
- Bye Bye Bynum. I think Bynum just doesn't want to play. Clearly a no soap radio situation if there ever was one.— zen
- Chris Weber -- Elton Brand -- Andrew Bynum =. Front court for the All-Orthopedic Squad— zen
- I don't believe that Bynum just doesn't want to play here. If this is a ploy to get out of town, it's going to blow up in his face. He's costing himself millions by not playing. He has every reason to be out there playing through injuries.
Anyway, if this is how it will be, he's gone next year and the Sixers will have cap space to find someone else.— Steve2181 - At least we got 5 games out of Ruland! This lazy stiff doesn't want to play ball.— vietnamvet
- I think his knees also do not like the hair he was sporting the other day.— WantToKnow
- Damaged goods, nullify the trade!— Bills41
- Come on people. This guy has to want to play. Last year of his current contract. His entire future and future money depends on what he does this year. Sixers mistake trading for damaged goods.— RobertB
- It's amazing how people are falling into his trap. This is a bad dude that cares for NO ONE but himself. Watch his Miraculous recovery in late February in time for teams to see how he can play and get him his big FA signing. This guy is a THUG that they should have never touched.— pnolan
- It's pretty obvious that this new ownership used the same hype in selling the public Andrew Bynum that they used to sell public derivatives. There is a reason Los Angeles let Bynum go at age 24. I guess they did not see a future with those tricked knees.— Anne Arkey
- This guy isn't going to play more than 20 games this season, bank on it. I think it's time the Sixers look at the roster and blow it up. It's time to trade all the veterans. This team needs to stockpile young players and draft picks for the future. They'll be terrible this year, and next year most likely. But we need to find a roster that has some room to grow. Find your core and build around them, and give up on short-term goals.— fightonphilly
- New owners same old stuff getting damage goods when will it stop. I hope they've played it safe and didn't bet the house on this guy. The old owner staff made bad picks for years don't tell me this will be the same.— JBA
- If it looks like a dog, and walks like a dog and acts like a dog, its a dog.— alak0926
- i said it before---andrew bynum==JEFF RULAND— cheffred
- Unbelievable...NO....actually, very believable! The Lakers set us up, dangled what we were to believe was..."the #2 center in the ENTIRE NBA!" What did we do, we jumped on the BYNUM BUS, gased it up, & off to LA ! All the while, everybody in LAKERVILLE can't wait for us to get there! Hmmmm? I wonder why? Could it be,the DH EXPRESS from ORLANDO was due to touch down at the STAPLES CENTER any day? Hmmmm?! The Laker's knew they couldn't GET HOWARD THE DUCK, if they still had BABY HUEY, so,the latter must go! But WHO ? Hmmm? The Rockets, the Mav's, Oh, wait a minute, they said, doesn't Andrew have family in Jersey? Yes, Yes, that's it, the Nets! No No! The SIXER'S ! YEAH! PERFECT! AND WE all know HOW MUCH LOVE K.BRYANT has for the PHILA. Organization! NOT!.... Send Baby Huey to PHILLY! Hmmmm! Brilliant! Do you think it will work? The Laker's faithful said? Peice of cake! What about Andrew? They asked? No problem! They said! Tell him all he has to do is pass a physical, sign the contract, get an advance, THEN, say HIS KNEE HURTS! BRILLIANT! And then WE get the Dwight the Diva? AND we all know.....this story has a HOLLYWOOD ENDING!— frank castle
- Is this Derrick Coleman again?— rugbyjt
- the first question needs to be, "why did you wait 2 months after the season ended before opting to have the procedure on your knees?".— mosquito killer
- What did we give up for this arthritic stiff? Iguodala?
Oh.
OK.— Cazptain Philadelphia - Just another HIGH PAID NBA CENTER who comes to PHILADELPHIA to ride the bench and collect a pay check— Foxchase
- How about this scenario? Like so many pro athletes he has a giant insurance policy on his knees. He opts out of playing and takes settlement. Then buys hostess cake franchise and lives happily ever after. Sad. This guy is a fraud.— Phil Checchia
- Bynum doesn't want to play here. The only reason he signs here is that he knows he's done and this is the only chance he has of one final pay day. And the Sixers may still do it because they'll feel they have to save face for this trade for damaged goods and then the Sixers will be set back another 5-6 years. We'll see now what kind of GM DiLeo is. Will he have the guts to cut bait or will he be a yes man, sign Bynum and bury the franchise for a few more years? Better to dump Bynum and try to for a big man in the draft.— echosmyron
- Uhhh....meniscus is cartilage!! So I guess you did have cartilage problems. How does this trade even go thru? Where were our doctors. He was already injured and they let him go to Germany and do more damage . And we gave up Iggy and 3 # 1's for this!! Wow and I though the Eagles were bad at getting injured players— kchaz
The Lakers are occasionally foolish in their player dealings but not STUPID. They knew what they were parting with in Bynum, and were comfortable doing so. And yes, they acquired Dwight Howard, but I suspect that Bynum would have been moved sooner or later regardless.
The Sixers took a chance. Can't fault them for it as the Iguodala-led team had gone about as far as it was going to go. Unfortunately for Bynum "long term contract" is looking more and more like a dream ... and not reality. We'll see ...
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.
