There has been much gnashing of teeth this Lakers season about young, talented Andrew Bynum. Much nervous attention cast his way, a product of last year's surprising improvement and the sense that if he ever harnesses his talent, purple and gold confetti will fall on yet another Lakers championship trophy.
Then there's the new contract. Four years and $57.4 million tend to up the ante and weigh heavy on a player like Bynum, who is 21 and still in the process of learning a game he only became serious about late in high school.
So an intriguing question swirled around Thursday's game against the Washington Wizards, giving what would have been a soon-to-be-forgotten blowout against an awful team, a dose of extra interest. Was the previous Lakers contest, Bynum's outburst against the Clippers, a spectacular, 42-point, 15-rebound tease, or a sign of things to come?
Has Mr. Bynum made the great leap forward?
From the start against the Wizards, Bynum began to answer that question. He was strong on the glass and smart on defense, weak spots that this year have been repeatedly harped on by Coach Phil Jackson.
And on offense, get this: In the first half, when the game was still on the line, Bynum was the Lakers' hinge-point. First quarter, he scored eight smooth points on an assortment of dipping lay-ups, turnaround jumpers and a driving dunk. Yes, he was battling the Wizards' Andray Blatche, who west of Washington nobody knows. But this after all was NBA competition and every move the still slightly gangly center made indicated he is beginning to feel as if he belongs.
Bynum sat on the bench for much of the second quarter. For much of it, there was no need for his services, what with bench players also feasting on the Wizards, who brought a 9-32 record to L.A. Still, once Bynum got onto the court, with only about five minutes left in the half, he did his work quickly, scoring another eight points.
"Andrew was good," said Jackson, speaking of the outburst, keeping his assessment of Bynum extremely sparse and low key -- as if he doesn't want to mess with the recent magic, or have praise go to his center's head.
So we had one half, 16 points -- and get this, nine rebounds. Where was this headed? When the second half began and he scored the first two points, you wondered if maybe he'd hit 40 again.
