Andrew Bynum is Elden Campbell
Andrew Bynum is getting so much hype lately that I cant help but recall the 1990-1991 season of Los Angeles Lakers when a young seven foot center was drafted from Clemson and was touted as the next greatest center in Los Angeles Lakers history, his name? Elden Campbell.
Campbell much like Bynum now was hyped back then as the new center of the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact if I remember correctly Elden was openly discussed as a project that would evolve into a dominate force in the paint and would help the Lakers reclaim past glories experienced with Chamberlain and Kareem. Los Angeles poured tons of time and resources into Elden and night after night Campbell went out on the floor in his typical aloof manner and failed to live up to his hyped up expectations. Of course now that Elden has retired you can go by his career stats and achievements and quickly can come to the conclusion that Chamberlain or Kareem he was not.
So let’s fast forward now to Andrew Bynum who at the moment is sitting out with a bum knee and is expected to come back in time for the playoffs to help Kobe Bryant and the Lakers get into the NBA finals. Are you serious? I mean I totally get that this is the Lakers in LA LA land where fantastic stories are created every hour and entertainment is around every corner but lets get serious for a moment. This is a kid straight out of High School who’s last highlight was a skirmish with Shaq (where Shaq rightfully punked him).
Much like his mirror image Elden Campbell, Andrew Bynum is completely over hyped and despite all the extra training, coaching and fantastic promotional stories will never, that’s right I said it, NEVER live up to a Shaq, Chamberlain or Kareem.
Look Andrew Bynum will have an average career at best and no he will not be the savior of the Los Angeles Lakers. Kobe Bryant as much as he went through hatefest 2007 was completely justified in being pissed when the Lakers failed to pull the trigger on a trade that involved Bynum for Kidd. Kobe could not and cannot win a championship with Bynum period. That’s the message that was sent and that’s how the Lakers got Pau Gasol who up until his recent sprained ankle was the only hope of the Lakers making a push for the NBA Finals.
You want to see Andrew Bynum future stats? Take a look!
Andrew Bynum is hype job much like Elden Campbell was and several other players in the NBA were and are. I may be wrong in the future and Bynum may take his game average into the 25+ points per game and 10+ rebounds per game range. I really don’t think this will happen; Bynum will most likely be a career backup center who averages 10+ points per game and 5+ rebounds per game much like his predecessor Elden Campbell. Sorry Jerry Buss I bought the hype the first time around but not this time.
chunsanp
March 19th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
it’s gonna take another year or two but bynum’s going to be great for la. take a look at his stats before he got injured. it’s gonna take him some time to get back to the rhythm he was in before he got injured but after that, next season and some more after that, bynum’s gonna be great. you could say that shaq coming in “killed” elden campbell, but elden campbell was a pretty good backup center for shaq. pity buss didn’t want to pay his salary and forced him out…..their roles (bynum/campbell) are different, and it’s not like they got any chance of bringing in a “shaq” in the next few years so bynum’s pretty much gonna be the centerpiece for the lakers for the next decade or so and if he continues to develop like he did before the injury, laker’s are gonna be fine.
Exick
March 19th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
I had to look at the date this post was written because I had a hard time believing it was written recently. Have you watched any Lakers basketball since the Bynum/Shaq “highlight” that you mentioned? You know that was 2 years ago, right?
Andrew is already better than Elden and he’s only 20 years old. He was averaging a double-double in less than 30 minutes a game while leading the league in field goal percentage before he went down. Go check out Elden’s stats and show me how many years it took him to average more than 13 points per game. Did he ever average more than 10 boards per game? (Here’s a hint: no)
In Elden’s first 3 seasons, he played in 212 games (started 60) and averaged about 18 minutes. He had 8 double-doubles. Andrew has played in 163 games (started 78) while averaging just over 19 minutes per game and has 28 double-doubles.
Incidentally, no player in NBA history has averaged a double double with 2+ blocks per game while playing fewer than 30 minutes per game. Guess who’s doing that this year.
I Luv Bynum
April 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 am
He already averages 14 ppg and 10 rebounds.
So there goes your 10 ppg, 5 rebounds theory.
Bynum came out of high school, did Eldumb Campbell? Don’t think so.
Shaq punked Bynum? Yeah look what happens on the other end, and has-been getting REPUNKED by a highschooler. Good fucking job.