Bynum era may be over before it began

Center Andrew Bynum has suffered yet another setback, he told reporters Friday, and it seems apparent that his putting on a Sixers uniform this season is highly unlikely. Trouble has returned in his right knee, the one he originally hurt in September before training camp.

When the right knee began to feel better, Bynum incurred swelling in the left knee after a stint at the bowling alley in November. Through ensuing weeks during his weekly meeting with reporters, Bynum said that the right knee was feeling fine, even "phenomenal," but that the left knee wasn't responding. Then Friday, a week after he played a limited five-on-five session with his teammates, Bynum said the swelling returned to his right knee and hasn't subsided.

Let's go back even further, to when the Sixers sent three players and a first-round draft pick as part of a four-team deal to get Bynum. The big question now is: Was Bynum healthy then?

According to multiple sources asked throughout the season, Bynum was seen by four doctors before the trade. The MRI reports that were looked at showed that he had some cartilage issues, all the sources said, but all four doctors were comfortable signing off that he would be able to play basketball for the team this season, after playing in 60 of 66 games for the Lakers last season with the lockout-shortened schedule.

Then Bynum "tweaked" his right knee during a solo workout while performing and up-and-under move. Another MRI was taken and, according to the sources, the MRI showed a bone bruise and more significant cartilage issues.

Then came the bowling and the confusing meetings with the media and more setbacks and some progress and now this.

It has all just been so mind-boggling. Bynum's final statement to the media Friday will be the one fans will focus on most, when he said, "I don't want to play with pain."

Again, confusion. Bynum didn't say he wouldn't play with pain, he said he didn't want to. Certainly, everyone wants to be pain-free, but that's just not a reality in professional sports. The question is this: Is Bynum willing to play with pain, and, if so, how much?

"Actually the condition, 50 percent of the people in the United States have it now; they just happen to not play basketball," he said. "It takes on a little bit more shape in my world. It's frustrating. There's really nothing yet to do about it [surgically]. I just don't need a swollen knee.

"I played in LA with a bit of swelling, but it wasn't this bad. I didn't really feel the pain when I was playing, but now it's like really stiff and a lot of pain. Just doing stuff, not even full five-on-five stuff. I played in one scrimmage and it's a 4- to 5-day setback."

Four or 5 days now, perhaps 4 or 5 years for the organization. Is there any way the organization would look to bring him back after all that has transpired this season? Can you take that chance? If he isn't re-signed, then what? Sure, there will be money to work with, but can any signings be as significant or have the type of impact the Bynum trade was supposed to have? Time will tell, but for now, time appears to be running out on a Bynum sighting this season.

"I'm not really concerned [about his future]; it's more frustrating," Bynum said. "You do the work, you get to a point and then you have to back down. It's kind of tough. Now it's getting really late, so I really don't know.

"I think being healthy is more important than anything else. If I'm healthy, then I'll get a deal. But I have to be able to play. I need to get to the point with my body where I'm able to play.

"You just have to wait. I don't know exactly how it's going to pan out, I can't predict the future, but I'm going to play when I'm healthy, and, right now, it's not the case. I still think that I can play. There's nothing really out there now [surgically that can help]. That's the problem."

Not having Bynum has certainly been extremely problematic for the Sixers this season as they have fallen out of the playoff landscape and find themselves at 22-34. Certainly nothing anyone envisioned in August.

"I think it was important for him to get on the floor to at least see where he is," coach Doug Collins said of Bynum's five-on-five stint. "I think he gets misread a little bit. He's in a lot of pain. He wants to play. Make no bones about it, I know from the time I spent with him that he want to play, and he's incredibly disappointed that he's not able to play. I want our people, our fans to know that. This is not a guy who's malingering or does not want to help his team. He wants to help his team."

That doesn't seem possible, certainly not this season and perhaps not for the following years that the organization envisioned. Andrew Bynum's knees could cost him this whole basketball season and, if the Sixers don't find a way to recover quickly from all that they gave up to acquire him, it could cost them a couple more.

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