MEM Grizzlies at Lakers, 2008 (Drew Bynum injury)

1-13-2008. FYI: This is a refurbished old game, I wanna put it out now cus it's been sitting in private mode since March. It's a good, close, competitive game. YT screwed up my formatting on the old version when they made recent site-changes. Big Drew goes down w/ a broken kneecap. This injury was all kinds of problematic and wouldn't heal because they missed some rough areas in the back of the kneecap that kept irritating his joint and causing swelling after every practice/game and flight. And his broken patella wasn't as bad as some others that happened around that time, such as to Chuck, Pryzbylla, Mutombo, and Grant Hill had one too, iirc. I keep talking about the Fall of 2007 as a Renaissance period for Drew. This version of him w/o having to carry a load of bulk like he was Shaq was imo the finest version he ever reached. And in true Drew fashion, it lasted for only a couple months.
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Wasn't his fault, Shaq in 97 landed on a foot at MIN (game recap I have up) that cost him 30 gms, so it happens. It was just that Drew had buzzard luck when it came to knees/legs. Same luck combined with injury proclivity that Sam Bowie had. Kobe landed into Drew's knee in a road game against MEM a year later. That play looked exactly the same as Jerome Kersey falling into Bowie's knee in Sam's 2nd season. With dudes like Sam and Drew, they may have remained injury free under perfect circumstances, but they were so unlucky that their knees/legs were magnets for those kinds of plays.

[@waynerogers3117]

Hey NPZ. This is an upload that I can’t watch. I have watched every one of your amazing gems… your my GOAT… but this one is too painful. A young mans career potential just floated away starting this night. I loved his game. So much fun to watch. I don’t think he would have ever got to the level of the greats… more like a Brad Daugherty level- but just beautiful to behold.

[@nonplayerzealot4]

Thx, Wayne. Appreciate the kind words, but I'll give you a pass on this one. G'head and sit it out, you deserve a break. I got more, trust.

[@alwayskul]

i was hoping Rudy Gay would turn out to have a better career than he had. When I watched his games at UConn, he barely scratched the surface. He had the type of body and game that most scouts can only dream of.
When Jerry West was the GM for Memphis, he saw so much upside in Rudy that he traded away Shane Battier on draft day. Rudy kinda reminded me of Eddie Jones during his Laker days (but taller, stronger and more of a low-post player than Eddie). He was nowhere near the defender Eddie was.
It's sad that Rudy turned out to be more of a journeyman and a role player on the Spurs.

[@ballinkid909]

100% agreed on Gay, thought he could be on the McGrady trajectory coming out of college. Shame he became more of an accessory instead of a franchise player, but he did end up averaging 17 & 6 over fifteen years which is nothing to scoff at.

[@alwayskul]

@@ballinkid909 good point! he's far from being a scrub. the fact that he's still in the league says something. brandon roy - who was in Gay's draft class - is out of the league already, through no fault of his own, due to his injuries. there's something to be said for longevity.

[@Ducksrule123]

that ending is one of the more memorable ones in recent lakers history. because of course kwame would blow that dunk and then somehow make a FT despite being an awful FT shooter. and lol @ how pissed stu was that they didn't call a foul on the last play
those bynum injuries were just awful though. fortunately he was able to come back from the 09 injury and play in the playoffs. i remember hoping in 09-10 that phil would just sit him out if they were to play memphis in january

[@nonplayerzealot4]

Good post, Ducks. Appreciate it. Drew then got his next knee injured at MEM. Neither were his fault, but his physiology precluded him from making full, relatively timely recoveries. In 97, Shaq blew out 3-4 structures in his knee and needed a hard cast on his leg and wore a brace w/ metal hinges when he came back for the rest of that 97 season (didn't miss the rest), but he never had any other problems w/ it. Guys like Bynum, Oden, Bill Walton, and Sam Bowie malinger and never fully heal correctly, tho their injuries were different. Bynum wasn't even as bad as those other 3. In college, Sam missed an entire season w/o any bone regrowth taking place in his shinbone. W/ Drew, the kneecap gave him problems w/ swelling that were misdiagnosed and had to be corrected after months of rehab. He had irritating pieces on the inside that made the knee re-swell on flights and after practices on timetable dates. His career, however, was ended by the knee issue. Even Bowie and Bill W played 100+ gms at the tail ends of their careers.

[@tevinsherrill5653]

And then less than a month after this, Pau Gasol became a Laker and the rest was history.

[@mynameisjeff512]

How do you have all of these games?

[@mr.jaysonbaker4271]

Sad day in Lakers land..

[@BViper24]

I don't know if the Lakers trade for Gasol if Bynum doesn't hurt

[@NickFedder]

I love Red Bull