There’s a different kind of pressure facing Andrew Bynum in Philadelphia says former Sixer, Charles Barkley. Despite having spent all his career prior to this season in the bright lights of Los Angeles, winning two championships along the way, Bynum was never called upon by the Lakers to lead the team on a nightly basis – that was reserved for Kobe Bryant of course – but on a young Philly team Barkley contends that this could be a defining season for Bynum to prove what he’s really made of.
“I love the Bynum trade for the Sixers,” said Barkley. “But none of that other stuff matters if he’s not dominating. If he’s not getting double-teamed, those three-point shooters are not going to be getting those wide-open threes.
“The Sixers are asking him to do something that he has never done before, and it’s a tremendous responsibility, it all comes down to him being the man for this team every single night. That’s something he has never done before. He has to stay healthy and come out and dominate. The jury is still out on that.
“You have seen it happen to other guys who are good players. Joe Johnson is a very good player,” Barkley said of the Brooklyn Nets guard. “But when he got traded from Phoenix to Atlanta he wasn’t the same guy. You see it with other guys. Amar’e Stoudemire saw it in New York. He got there and eventually he found out that the difference between being a good player and being the man every night is like night and day.”
