To begin the season Lakers fans had high hopes for young big man Andrew Bynum. He even had a stretch of games where he appeared to be living up to those expectations and having an all-star caliber season. Then the worst possible thing happened to Bynum and the Lakers as he went down with a torn MCL and would miss the next couple of months of the season. There is no question that Bynum has talent, but will he be healthy enough to fully maximize on his potential? The Lakers have proved that they can be successful without him and that’s a scary thought, because with him healthy and improving on his game, the Los Angeles Lakers could be as close to as unbeatable as a team can get. We all know the kind of attention Kobe Bryant commands and you cannot overlook Pau Gasol and the rest of the Lakers on that roster who have shown that they can be valuable.

It all boils down to how healthy Andrew Bynum is. Over the last two seasons he’s had two major injuries with his lower body and when you’re a 7-footer who is close to 300 pounds, you cannot afford to constantly have injuries that deal with your joints in the lower body. You need those knees and ankles to remain healthy to help support such a big frame and to be able to within an entire NBA season. Sometime down the line, the Lakers hope Bynum can be a go-to guy and his body will continue to take beatings. If healthy, he can reach his maximum potential and be a legit all-star center in ths NBA for years to come. Although it’s been repeated over and sounds cliche, he has to show that he can remain healthy over an entire NBA season first.

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