The 7-foot Bynum had transformed the Lakers into a dominant bunch with his All-Star-caliber play of late at both ends of the court. However, he will miss 8-12 weeks after suffering a torn medial collateral ligament in his right knee at Memphis Saturday. Bryant is confident the Lakers will continue to play at a high level without Bynum, and be that much better when he returns.
"We were fine last year," said Bryant after the Lakers' shootaround yesterday morning at Air Canada Centre before they beat the Raptors, 115-107, last night. "We just fell a couple games short of our end goal. He'll be back and we'll be fine. Everyone is like doomsday because he missed the season last year. It's not the same injury. He'll be back and we will be ready to roll."
Bynum averaged 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds prior to his injury last season. And after Bynum exited, the Lakers acquired forward-center Pau Gasol in a trade with Memphis.
With Gasol and Lamar Odom in the post, the Lakers went on to win the Western Conference title before losing to the Celtics in six games. But the Lakers had to wonder if the Finals would have been different if Bynum and Gasol were on the floor together.
"We went to the Finals with this lineup," Odom said. "But I would rather be at full strength. We are a much better team with Andrew and with myself coming off the bench. But we know we can play with this lineup and we know we can play well."
Coming off surgery to his left knee, Bynum was up and down during the first two months this season and discouraged by his limited role late in games. But when 2009 arrived, a breakthrough occurred for the New Jersey native who spurned a scholarship to the University of Connecticut to turn pro out of high school.
Bynum averaged 17.3 points and 7.8 rebounds a game in January. He became the first Laker other than Bryant in five years to score more than 40 points when he put up a career-high 42 Jan. 21 against the Clippers. During the five games before he was injured, Bynum averaged 26.2 points on 65.3 percent shooting, 13.8 rebounds, and 3.2 blocks.
