Bynum’s time in Cleveland may be over.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have suspended Andrew Bynum and are looking to trade him, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Sources indicate Bynum “doesn’t want to play basketball” anymore, and claim he has been a disruption to the team, showing a lack of commitment in practice. If Cleveland cannot trade him, they will only have to pay $6 million of the $12.2 million owed to him this year if he is waived by January 7th.
I wrote back in September that Bynum made Cleveland a playoff team if his health and motivation were there. It appears now neither are, but the two are directly linked. Bynum’s motivation or lack of desire to play basketball has followed him through his career. Maybe he doesn’t have a true passion for the game, but I’d make the case there are plenty of productive, healthy NBA players who don’t love the game either. Crazy statement, but a lot of people enter professions for the paycheck rather than their love for it. However this isn’t a money over everything issue with Bynum. Simply put, I think Bynum is tired of playing hurt and tired of rehabbing. Back in November he was experiencing, “little, sharp pains” and was unsure if he would ever get his explosiveness back. At this point it would be hard to envision Bynum ever being the dominant center he once was.
What often gets overlooked when returning from injury is how painful the rehab process can be. When my father was rehabbing a broken elbow, he claimed it felt like the doctor was tearing his elbow off. Knee injuries are one of the worst to recover from, and Bynum has done nothing but rehab his knees for the past year and a half. It has be discouraging that after so much time recovering he can’t get through a game without experiencing sharp pain.
Let’s not forget that in 2010 he played through an injured knee, having to receive constant treatment on the bench, in route to the Lakers 2010 NBA Championship. The circumstances were certainly different, but Bynum was determined that year to play, citing how hard it was to watch from the bench during the finals in ’08. Whether Bynum loves the game or not there was a motivation to be great and help his team win. Now that appears gone. Maybe in 2010 he thought his knee problems would eventually go away. Maybe now, after so long a recovery and knowing the pain will always remain, the motivation to play through the pain is harder to muster.
Bynum deserves some blame, particularly if his relationship with the team and coaches has deteriorated as is being suggested. Being tired of playing through pain does not excuse him from causing un-needed disruption with the team and staff. Cleveland however knew the risk involved by signing him, though I doubt they foresaw the relationship between the team and player fall apart so quickly. The consolation will be not having to pay him the full salary, and the hope would be his departure easing tensions in the locker room.
Ultimately no one wants to work in any kind of profession that causes them constant pain on a daily basis. If you want to criticize Bynum for the way he’s handled himself with the team in Cleveland (and even Philadelphia), fine; but if his knees hurt so bad that he doesn’t want to play basketball anymore you can’t really blame him.
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