Background and career
Andrew Bynum (born October 27, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played the majority of his career with the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After they selected him in the first round of the 2005 NBA draft with the 10th overall pick, the 7-foot (2.1 m) center won two NBA championships with the team in 2009 and 2010. He was named an All-Star and selected to the All-NBA Team in 2012. Bynum was an All-American player in high school before he decided to forgo college and enter the NBA. He made his NBA debut with the Lakers six days after his 18th birthday, and remains the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game. After seven seasons with the Lakers, he was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in 2012 as part of a four-team deal that sent All-Star center Dwight Howard to Los Angeles. Bynum missed the entire 2012–13 season because of knee problems. He signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Cavaliers, where he briefly played before being traded to the Chicago Bulls, who subsequently released him. He then signed with the Indiana Pacers for the remainder of the 2013–14 season.
Bynum was born in Plainsboro Township, New Jersey. His parents, Ernest Bynum and Janet McCoy, divorced when he was a year old. He spent summers visiting his father in North Carolina. Bynum has one older brother, Corey.
Bynum attended St. Joseph High School, in Metuchen, New Jersey during his junior and senior year. For most of his freshman year, he attended West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North located in Plainsboro, New Jersey. For the remainder of his freshman year and his sophomore year he attended Solebury School in Solebury, Pennsylvania. In his junior year of high school Bynum averaged 16.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, and 6.0 blocks. As a senior, he averaged 22.4 points, 16.8 rebounds and 5.3 blocks per game. During his junior and senior year at St. Joseph High School, Bynum finished his high school career averaging 19.2 points, 14.9 rebounds, and 5.6 blocks in 32 appearances. He played in the 2005 McDonald's All-American game where he tallied 9 points and 5 rebounds. He originally planned to attend the University of Connecticut on a basketball scholarship; however, the 17-year-old made the decision to go directly into the NBA and made himself eligible for the 2005 NBA draft, where he was selected by the Los Angeles Lakers.
In the 2005 NBA draft, Bynum was selected 10th overall by the Los Angeles Lakers. At age 17 years, 244 days, Bynum was 12 days younger than Jermaine O'Neal, the previous youngest player drafted by an NBA team. After selecting him in the draft, the Lakers hired Hall-of-Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to work with Bynum. Bynum played in a preseason game at 17 years old making him the first player to play in the NBA at 17 years of age. On November 2, 2005, during the Lakers' season opener against the Denver Nuggets, Bynum played six minutes and became the youngest player ever to play in an NBA game at age 18 years, 6 days. During the game, he missed his two field goal attempts but had two rebounds and two blocks. In his second season, Bynum was still the youngest player in the league, due to his draft year being the last that a player could be drafted straight out of high school. In a game against the Miami Heat on January 16, 2006, Bynum matched up against former Laker center Shaquille O'Neal for the first time. At one point, O'Neal dunked over Bynum on a putback attempt. On the next play, Bynum spun past O'Neal and dunked the ball. He then ran down the court and shoved O'Neal with his elbow, who retaliated by elbowing Bynum's upper chest. Teammate Kobe Bryant quickly stepped in between the two. Both Bynum and O'Neal received technical fouls for the incident.
With Lakers centers Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown injured at the start of 2006–07, Bynum was the starting center for the first 15 games of the season. In his first career start, he scored 18 points and had nine rebounds against the Phoenix Suns on October 31, 2006. His first career double-double on November 7 included a season-high 20 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks against the Minnesota Timberwolves. On January 26, 2007, he had a career-high seven blocks and a season-high 16 rebounds against the Charlotte Bobcats. He played in all 82 games during the season and started 53, finishing with averages of 7.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in just over 21 minutes per game. During the season, the New Jersey Nets were interested in acquiring Bynum for Jason Kidd. After the season, Coach Pete Newell was impressed with Bynum's development, and stated that teammate Kobe Bryant should back off on his negative treatment of Bynum on the court. Bryant was also shown on an infamous amateur video saying that center Bynum should have been traded for Kidd. The Indiana Pacers also made a trade offer for Bynum. The Lakers would exercise a fourth-year contract option on Bynum.
Bynum helped the Lakers start to a 26–11 record, which was at the time the best record in the Pacific Division. Bynum played 35 games and started in 25 games during the season. On Christmas Day against the Phoenix Suns, he made 11-of-13 shots for 28 points to complement 12 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocks. On January 13, 2008, he suffered an injury during a game against the Memphis Grizzlies. Bynum partially dislocated his left kneecap when he landed awkwardly on teammate Lamar Odom's left foot while attempting to grab a rebound. After Bynum's injury, the Lakers acquired Pau Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies. In March, there were reports that he could return before the end of the 2007–08 season or the first round of the playoffs; however, Lakers coach Phil Jackson said that he did not foresee Bynum making serious contributions any time soon in April. In May, rumors about his return were put to rest when Bynum underwent arthroscopic surgery on his kneecap. He missed 46 games due to the injury, and finished the season with averages of 13.1 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.1 blocks and a .636 field goal percentage. Without Bynum, the Lakers made it to the 2008 NBA Finals, but lost to the Boston Celtics in six games.
