A-Train’s Back On Track (interview)

DaRizzle · Sep 25, 2008

Missing a large chunk of any season because of an injury is never a good look. Missing more than half of a season in which your team made it all the way to the finals just flat out “sucks.” The case of Andrew Bynum, the Laker big man who missed 47 games over a knee injury last season, was made more disheartening by the fact that the 7-footer began making the serious strides scouts thought he would.

SLAM recently caught up with Bynum, who was in Cali preparing for the start of training camp.

SLAM: So tell me, what was your off-season like?
Andrew Bynum: The off-season was pretty cool. We actually did a lot of things. We started with the track every morning, then we went to weights, then we went to basketball. We did that for about a month and a half straight down in Atlanta. And before that, obviously, I was in rehab in New York City with a guy named Bob Panerello, who does great work. And, you know, I’ve just really been trying to get my knee right.

SLAM: Do you feel you’re going to be 100 percent to start the season?
AB: Yes. I’m going to be, probably, 110 percent, cause we’ve just been working hard. I can jump an inch higher than before. It feels great, actually. I think it might even be stronger than before the surgery cause we were actually able to focus strengthening the leg, which is something I’ve never really done before. So, the surgery went well, and I think I’m 100 percent.

SLAM: What kind of things have you been doing to get your knee stronger?
AB: Well, we started out with a lot of ice. And isometric contractions which are just basic contractions of the muscle and then we were able to go to partial squats and one legged partial squats and, as it got stronger, we started to add a little bit of lateral movement in, some hops, some agility drills. After that, we progressed into full-blown squats, jogging, and we went to running. Once I was able to run, that’s when I felt comfortable with the situation in my leg and, you know, just kept building from there.

SLAM: What skills have you been working on away from getting your knee ready? Is there anything you can’t do?
AB:: I can do everything. Basically, this off-season I’ve been focusing on dribbling skills and developing a 15-20 foot shot, which should be able to free me up a bit more so I’ll be able to face up against defenders and be able to make moves against them. cause it kind of got to a point where people were trying to take the middle away from me. So now if I open up, and I see that they’re sagging off, I can pop a little J and they’ll have to play me honestly. And it’s just easier.
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A-Train’s Back On Track (interview)

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