Andrew Bynum Wants To Make NBA Comeback After 4 Years Away From League

TheSportster

By Rodrigo Lobato

Published Sep 11, 2018

Andrew Bynum was one of the most promising young players in the NBA at one point, but now, 4 years removed from his last game, he wants to return.

Andrew Bynum, the former Los Angeles Lakers center who helped Kobe Bryant win his last two championships, is seeking a return to the NBA after four years of his last appearance in a professional basketball game.

According to a report from The Athletic, the 30-year-old has already hired representation to start the conversations with different NBA teams in hopes of working out with them before training camps open next month.

The last game of the former number 10 overall pick was during the 2013-14 season, which doesn’t sound that long ago. However, Bynum’s career was over way before his final game. Bynum was a key piece in the 2009 and 2010 Lakers championships—along with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol—averaging 15 points and eight rebounds per game in 2010. The following season, the then-23-year-old player averaged 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game, which earned him his first All-Star game appearance. He looked like a promising big man, even mentioned along with Dwight Howard as the top center in the league. However, the Lakers didn’t like his knee's condition, so they decided to get rid of him before his injuries worsen.

Bynum was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in a four-team deal, in which the Sixers had to give up Andre Iguodala, Maurice Harkless, Nik Vucevic, and a first-round pick in order to land their so-called franchise player. The former Laker didn’t play a single minute during that campaign due to his knees. Next season he only played 26 games between the Cleveland Cavaliers—where he was suspended by the Cavs for destructive behavior–and the Indiana Pacers. At 26, when most of the professional basketball players are at the top of their careers, Bynum retired.

“It was a thought, it was a serious thought. Still is,” Bynum said regarding retirement via the Akron Beacon Journal's Jason Lloyd. “At the moment, it’s tough to enjoy the game because of how limited I am physically. I’m still sort of working through that.”

Today Bynum wants to attempt an NBA comeback, which sounds highly unlikely to happen if his physical condition wasn’t good at this 20’s why would it be at his 30’s? Moreover, when he left the NBA, the game still needed back-to-the-basket centers, those type of players are “obsolete” in the current game, though he seems to be aware of that, working out on his three-point line shots.