Lakers’ $50 Million Pout

It didn’t take a crystal ball to know what Andrew Bynum’s box score would be in Game 2 of the playoff series between the Lakers and the Rockets. All you had to do was look at the young center’s face.

His attitude was as obvious as the ‘Why should I care if I’m not starting?’ pout on his face. While the rest of the Lakers were huddling together getting charged up for their game with the Rockets, Bynum stood lacksadaisically in the back and showed as much energy as a dead battery.

When he finally did get in the game, his box score completely tallied up with his attitude: no points, one rebound and three personal fouls.

No one can say that Bynum lacks talent. He has that in abundance. But he also has an attitude and immaturity to match.

No one can deny that Kobe Bryant came into the NBA ten years ago with his share of immaturity and a ‘Me First’ attitude, and over the years the Lakers have certainly benefitted.

But Bryant also had a couple of things in adundance that Bynum apparently lacks, namely an energy level and a work ethic that were off the charts. And they haven’t tailed off while his immaturity and attitude certainly have.

No one knows if Bynum will ever acquire a work ethic and an attitude that equates with the $50 million the Lakers are paying him over the next three years. But they certainly could have cut that huge price tag down considerably had they waited until the season ended to re-sign him.

Considering Bynum’s propensity for injuries and his slow healing process along with his poor gamesmanship in the playoffs, I doubt that any teams would have put up that kind money. But instead of waiting, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak went ahead and signed Bynum at the start of the regular season.

Now Kupchak is basically a one-deal GM. He pulled off the trade that brought Pau Gasol to the Lakers and sent Kwame Brown and Gasol’s brother, Marc, to the Grizzlies. But other than that, he has let players like Von Wafer, Maurice Evans, and Caron Butler get away. We won’t even talk about the Shaquille O’Neal trade.

Kupchak even fell in love with this 6-9 point guard from China, Sun Yue, who will never make it even as a spot player in the NBA and released Coby Karl, the son of Denver’s head coach, George Karl. Karl, who is now playing in Europe, may never make it in the NBA either, but he stands a far better chance than Sun Yue.

Instead of using his mid-level exemption to sign a quality free agent in the off season, Kupchak re-signed Jordan Farmar and Sasha Vujacic to three-year deals. Neither one has paid off for the Lakers this season.

While Kupchak’s judgment has been suspect, Lakers’ owner Jerry Buss, known as a pretty shrewd poker player, could have stepped in. The Bynum family and their advisors were putting pressure on the Lakers to do a deal then instead of in June.

Buss could have called their bluff. Instead he and Kupchak feared that Bynum would

Go through the season with a poor attitude unless he were paid. So, now the young center has gotten his big payoff and still has a poor attitude.

And what have the Lakers gotten? A $50 million dollar pout.

Tags: Andrew Bynum