Mentoring Bynum
With the role of special assistant Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reduced this season, which member of the coaching staff will assume the responsibility for tutoring 21-year-old center Andrew Bynum? "Just about everybody on my staff wants a piece of Andrew, just about everybody will have something to say," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said today.
Abdul-Jabbar mentored Bynum during his first four seasons in the NBA, following his jump to the pro ranks as a raw 17-year-old from St. Joseph High School in Metuchen, N.J. Kurt Rambis also worked a great deal with Bynum in the past season. Rambis left the Lakers to become the Minnesota Timberwolves' new coach in August, however.
So, Jackson said he might do more individual work with Bynum in Rambis' absence, adding, "My own focus is going to be in that direction because Kurt was the guy who spent a lot of time working on some of the details of (Bynum's) game."
i dont get it. why should kareem stay less with the team when he definitely can while monitoring drew. my guess is bynum wants to discover things by himself and be independent which is somewhat good. This should be fine, as long as bynum develops into a player we all want to see.