Andrew Bynum might have some new laundry, but it is still very much the same story for the former Lakers big man.
When will he return from the knee injuries that kept him out the entire season with Philadelphia last year? Cleveland wants to know. And Bynum still does not know.
Bynum told Mary Schmitt Boyer of the Cleveland Plain-Dealer he is still on schedule to return from his knee injury and has suffered no setbacks since beginning his rehab in Cleveland after signing his two-year deal with the Cavaliers. When that schedule concludes and Bynum will actually don a Cavs jersey is the part that remains a mystery.
The fun though is that while Bynum said he is on schedule, he does not know what that schedule is:
It's a fluid process. I have no idea what the schedule's going to be for me. But I'm doing everything I can to be ready. I think with the program that has been made up, we have a good chance.
I'm optimistic I'm where I should be. Obviously, I want to be playing. But I'm taking baby steps, doing what the team and the doctors tell me. I'm doing my part. I come to work every day. I'm moving in the right direction.
Sixers fans are probably nodding their head and saying, "Sure, sure."
This was the refrain for Bynum in Philadelphia but he never seemed to be on pace and never made his way back from the injury. Bynum always said he was excited to be on his own and be "the man" when he arrived in Philadelphia. He just never got that chance. Management decided to go a different route.
Instead, Bynum has to prove himself all over again with the Cavaliers. Cleveland took a bit of a risk to make their team much better. If Bynum is healthy, he is a great compliment to Kyrie Irving and could make the Cavaliers a contender to make the Playoffs.
"If Bynum is healthy," is a common refrain of Lakers and Sixers fans the past three or four years. The Cavaliers appear to be waiting to hear from Bynum and his doctors for confirmation that he will be ready to go.
Like those fan bases, we will keep waiting.
