Lakers: Andrew Bynum, Revisited

This week's "Legacy" episode introduces us to Kobe Bryant's much-hyped post-Shaq co-star.

In this week's stirring eighth episode of director Antoine Fuqua and executive producer Jeanie Buss's documentary limited series "Legacy: The True Story Of The L.A. Lakers," we see a shift in power for the Buss family, as Dr. Jerry Buss's second-eldest son Jim begins to take on a more central role in the Los Angeles front office during the team's post-Shaquille O'Neal wilderness years. It is revealed that Jim Buss generally took an analytics-based approach to making his talent assessments.

Except for his pet project, the Lakers' 2005 lottery pick Andrew Bynum.

In this instance, Jim Buss decided to forego stats and go with his gut, ultimately impressing on Dr. Buss and Kupchak the import of selecting 17-year-old seven-footer Andrew Bynum with the 10th selection straight out of St. Joseph High School in New Jersey. Returning Lakers head coach Phil Jackson was more in favor of a "four-year college player," Kupchak indicates in newly-recorded interview footage for the documentary.

Starting in 2005, Hall of Fame L.A. center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was brought in to serve as an assistant coach under Jackson with a particular focus on training Bynum. "The fact was he didn't understand the game, how to win," Abdul-Jabbar said of Bynum's readiness during his rookie season.

Longtime Lakers physical trainer Gary Vitti reveals in "Legacy" that the team initially "flunked" Bynum during their pre-draft physical examination of him, saying that his specific build appeared doomed for a short career.

During the documentary, Phil Jackson reveals that Jim Buss undermined the coach (who at the time had led his teams to nine championships from 1991-2002), as Jackson tried to limit how much Bynum's personal team of physical trainers could be allowed in practice.

The 7', 285-pound big man was an impossibly strong, efficient force around the rim, capable of gobbling up rebounds and pouring in the rock around the paint. His knock-kneed gait may have limited his durability, but while available, he was an excellent old-school center for L.A.

Bynum suffered three consecutive knee injuries during the Lakers' three straight Finals-bound seasons. 

First, the big man had to undergo arthroscopic surgery to correct a dislocated left kneecap that kept him out of the 2008 Finals, a six-game Lakers loss to the Celtics. 

Next, he tore the MCL in his right knee in February 2009, and had to play while managing the injury with a knee brace during the 2009 postseason. He averaged 6.3 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.4 blocks a game in those playoffs, a far cry from his regular season averages of 14.3 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks a night. Phil Jackson shuffled the frontcourt deck with Bynum limited. Lamar Odom took over the lion's share of Bynum's minutes, albeit at power forward, and the more lithe 7' Pau Gasol picked up the slack at center. The Lakers were able to effectively combat Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic in the 2009 NBA Finals, winning in five games.

In 2010, Bynum hyperextended his right knee during the Lakers' closeout Game 6 first-round Western Conference quarterfinals victory against Kevin Durant, James Harden, and future Laker Russell Westbrook. Bynum played through the injury once again through the rest of L.A.'s 2010 title run. He did ultimately emerge as a crucial contributor for the Lakers' 2010 championship team, averaging 8.6 points (on 53.7% shooting), 6.9 rebounds, and 1.6 blocks a game for Los Angeles. 

Eventually, Bynum was healthy for long enough during a single season that he did reach his All-Star potential, albeit just once, when he was named an All-Star starter and an All-NBA Second Teamer in 2012. Across 60 games, the 24-year-old averaged 18.7 points (on 55.8% shooting), 11.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.4 assists a night.

Under head coach Mike Brown, the Lakers would go on to finish with a 41-25 record and the West's No. 3 seed during that lockout-shortened 2011-12 season (equivalent to a 51-win record in a normal 82-game season). Los Angeles would go on to lose in a 4-1 second round "gentleman's sweep" to the ascendant Oklahoma City Thunder.

It would be Bynum's last happy NBA moment. 

In August 2012, Bynum and his arthritic knees were shipped out to the Philadelphia 76ers in the infamous four-team trade that saw Dwight Howard joining the Lakers for his own underwhelming stint with the franchise. Andre Iguodala, coming off his lone All-Star appearance, was shipped out to the Denver Nuggets. Unheralded Philadelphia center Nikola Vucevic, meanwhile, was sent to Orlando and would go on to become surprisingly productive with the Magic, making two All-Star teams before Orlando would wisely trade him to the Chicago Bulls for 2018 lottery pick Wendell Carter Jr. and two lightly-protected first-round draft selections in 2021 (which became Franz Wagner) and 2023.

Bynum's continuing knee troubles doomed his time in Philadelphia. He did not appear in a single game for the Sixers. In the 2013 offseason, a reeling Bynum signed a two-year deal with a non-LeBron James iteration of the Cleveland Cavaliers worth up to $24.8 million (though just $6 million of that was guaranteed).

After a clearly-diminished Bynum averaged just 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds across just 24 healthy games through February of that season, Cleveland flipped Bynum to the Chicago Bulls in exchange for All-Star small forward Luol Deng at the trade deadline. Chicago immediately released Bynum to save money. Bynum's last stop on his tour of the Central Division was with the Indiana Pacers, coached by future championship-winning Lakers head coach Frank Vogel. To close out the year, Bynum signed with the top-seeded Indiana Pacers, hoping to serve as the primary backup behind future Lakers center Roy Hibbert. Bynum was able to stay healthy for just two games with the Pacers before right knee swelling sidelined him for good.

And just like that, his NBA career was finished. The two-time Lakers champion had played his final pro game at the ripe old age of 26. All told, Bynum appeared in just 418 regular season games from 2005-2014, averaging 11.5 points on 55.6% career shooting from the floor, plus 7.7 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.6 blocks.

Ultimately, Bynum was probably the fourth-best player on that second era of elite Kobe Bryant Lakers basketball, behind Bryant, Pau Gasol (who'll be seeing his jersey number retired by L.A. this season), and versatile sixth man Lamar Odom. Was Bynum more "important" to the team than key starters in this run like Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza and Ron Artest? Maybe in the regular season, but when his club really needed him in the playoffs, his body just refused to fully cooperate. The NBA has also changed significantly since Bynum's heyday. Gasol, who mostly played at center during his post-Lakers career, would probably jump at the five if those championship L.A. teams were peaking right now, with Odom starting as a stretch four and the plodding Bynum feasting on reserves in a more permanent bench role.

He has kept a low profile since all those injury issues forced him out of the league permanently, and it appears Bynum did not participate in "Legacy" to tell his side of the story.

Though Bynum's eight-year NBA career ultimately proved disappointing, he did shine brightly when everything was clicking health-wise, albeit for a brief while. In a recent 2005 "re-draft", The Ringer's Bill Simmons and Ryen Russillo ultimately chose Bynum with the eighth pick, behind former Knicks/Warriors power forward David Lee, a two-time All-Star (originally taken with the No. 30 pick out of Florida). "From '08-'12, I'm getting a 15-and-10, 57% shooting, really hard guy to guard," Simmons said. "Peak Bynum was really good," Russillo concurred. Though better players were still on the board (Lee and Danny Granger, to name a couple -- though both were picked beyond the lottery), Bynum was worth the risk for L.A. at the tenth pick. Jim Buss's instincts were correct.

"Legacy" concludes its run with two more episodes, set to debut exclusively on streamer Hulu over the next two Mondays.