Two time NBA champion Andrew Bynum was viewed at one point as a dominant force and brought back some memories of what a true post game was with smooth footwork and strength to dominate any defender who attempted to stop him. The Lakers were smart and jumped ship even if it meant only one season of Dwight Howard they spared themselves of the trouble Bynum brought along with him.
Bynum was involved in the big four way deal sending him to Philadelphia, Andre Iguodala to Denver, Howard to LA, and Orlando receiving Nikola Vucevic which could be his claim to fame, but this story might be right up there. Andrew Bynum’s time in Philadelphia could be described as forgettable. In Pablo S. Torre’s piece on ESPN about the Philadelphia 76ers rebuild he referenced a time where Bynum showed up to rehab, but with a little extra weight on his Ferrari.
Their would-be star was a hazardous fit — sometimes even literally. One day, memorably, the rehabbing big man parked next to Aaron Barzilai, [then-Sixers general manager Tony] DiLeo’s newly hired director of basketball analytics, in the parking lot of the team facility at the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. As Bynum shuffled inside, Barzilai noticed something on their would-be star’s custom black Ferrari and called after him. Bynum, it turned out, had driven away from a gas station without removing the pump’s nozzle and eight-foot rubber hose, which he’d dragged, pythonlike, through the street.
Now obviously we all do stupid things in life, but to not realize you pulled a gas nozzle and hose off a pump has to be right up there with some of the dumbest things that you can do. Andrew Bynum has taken half court shots in practice repeatedly to force his way out of Cleveland and even went bowling after rehabbing all season to hopefully get back onto the court and hurt himself doing that. In a nutshell I’d say this particular story will be added to Bynum’s story and it will not be forgettable.
It’s sad to see such a talented player at one point just let everything go to waste due to stupidity. Bynum could’ve and should’ve dominated the league with the size and strength he had instead he’s sitting around counting how much he fleeced teams like Philadelphia, Cleveland, and Indiana into giving him a contract after serious character issues in Philadelphia.
