LOS ANGELES -- The Lakers are the only NBA playoff team whose success prompts
both optimism and wistfulness, an acknowledgment of how good they've become
and curiosity about how much better they could be if they had Andrew Bynum.
如果湖人有Bynum可以變得多好，大家都在問。
Bynum, who averaged 13 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks in 35 games, hasn't
played since he injured his left knee in a game against Memphis on Jan. 13,
and the official Lakers stance is there's no set target date for his return.
That leaves everyone to wonder whether he'll be back in time to join the
Lakers during the playoffs.
Bynum本季打了35場，平均13分10籃板2火鍋，從1月13號與灰熊打後，就因左膝傷停至今。
復出時間連湖人官方都不能確定。
The only place, it seems, where there isn't much speculation is in the
Lakers' locker room, as indicated by Coach Phil Jackson's response to how
Bynum's return would affect the chemistry that's developed between Lakers big
men Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom.
湖人休息室裡倒沒有人多做推測。總教練只說到有關Bynum回歸要如何與Pau Gasol以及
Lamar Odom搭配。
"Andrew would come off the bench and we would play him a little bit off the
bench if there was any chance that he would come back and play," Jackson
said. "But it's such a remote thing that we're really not seriously thinking
about it."
「如果他傷好了會從板凳出發，只要他有任何可能會回來，我們就會讓他有一些上場的時
間。」Jackson說。「但是這個機會真的非常渺茫到我們從沒認真考慮過它。」
That's a pretty clear indication of the Lakers' mind-set: Prepared to move on
without him.
明顯的湖人已經做好心理準備：沒有他也能走下去。
Kobe Bryant said he has told Bynum that the most important thing is for him
to take his time. Bynum talked to the media on the last weekend of the
regular season, saying the issue with his knee was being able to trust it
when he landed (he first injured it when it gave out when he landed). He's
worried about overcompensating, which could cause other injuries.
Kobe Bryant說他跟Bynum講，對他來說最重要的事情就是慢慢來。上禮拜Bynum接受訪問
時表示，他的膝蓋已經能夠承受他落地的重量（他因為落地不慎受傷），他還怕過度的復
健會造成其他傷勢。
After Lakers practice Monday, he said he was "feeling less pain."
在湖人禮拜一的練習過後，他說他感覺"比較不痛"了。
He took some shots with Trevor Ariza, another injured Laker who is out of
action. At one point Bynum even made a half-court shot after a challenge by
Jordan Farmar.
他與Trevor Ariza一起做了一些投球的練習，Ariza是湖人另一名上不了場的傷兵。有時
候Bynum甚至在Jordan Farmar的干擾下在中場出手。
But Bynum didn't seem like a full member of the team. He wore a white
T-shirt, not a reversible purple-and-gold practice jersey. Afterward he got
his knee wrapped by his personal trainer, Sean Zarzana, not one of the many
members of the Lakers' deep training staff. Then, as reporters were cleared
out of the practice gym, Bynum and Zarzana went to work out in what Bynum
called the "first test" of his knee.
但是Bynum看來不像是球隊的一員，他穿著白踢而不是紫金練習戰袍。他也讓他個人的訓
練員Sean Zarnana帶他做膝傷的復健，而不是由湖人團隊裡資深的訓練員執行。在記者散
場後，Bynum就要與Zarnana去做他稱為第一次的膝傷測試。
At the moment, the Lakers are particularly short-handed up front. Chris Mihm,
who played a total of 82 games the past two seasons, is back. But Ronny
Turiaf, who has been a productive backup, sat in the second half of Sunday's
victory over Denver and was sent home from practice Monday with what the team
is calling a sore throat. That sounds a lot better than when Jackson said on
Sunday that Turiaf was "diseased" -- as if he had caught the bubonic plague.
目前湖人在禁區人手有些吃緊。去年加上今年總共打了82場的Chris Mihm回來了，但是
Ronny Turiaf因扁桃腺炎進入觀察名單，不過至少比Jackson上禮拜天說的"重病"來的好
多了，那時聽起來他好像得了急性傳染病一樣。
To make it worse, DJ Mbenga suffered bruised ribs after he took a knee to the
body Monday in practice. The Lakers are calling both Turiaf and Mbenga
day-to-day.
但糟糕的是，連DJ Mbenga都有肋骨挫傷，Turiaf與Mbenga都進入逐日觀察名單。
Those are the matters for Wednesday, the second g ame of the Lakers'
opening-round series against Denver.
舊聞。
There are longer-term issues in play.
Bynum hadn't traveled with the Lakers for most of the time after the injury,
missing out on the longest trip in L.A. team history when he stayed home from
a nine-game trek that started 18 days after he went down.
在受傷後Bynum也很少跟著湖人到處飛，當湖人遇上球隊史上最長的客場之旅時，他也待
在家裡，那是他受傷18天後開始的連九場客場。
The Lakers brought Bynum along on the their trip to Sacramento and Portland
for games on April 6 and 8 just to get him back in the mix with his
teammates. Not only had he missed out on the camaraderie-building road trips
while injured, he lost one of his closest friends on the team when Javaris
Crittenton went to Memphis in the Gasol trade.
After the Lakers returned, Bynum went to New York to get his knee re-examined
by his personal doctor, David Altcheck. Afterward, Bynum's return timetable
was reset, Jackson said, adding that, "There's still a process to go through
again to get to the spot he was at before he went back to see his doctor."
在湖人作客完後，Bynum就去紐約找他的私人醫生David Altcheck對他的膝蓋做複檢，因
為他回歸時間又再度延宕。對此，Jackson說：「在他去看他的醫生之前，他要回到他以
往的身手還有很長的路要走。」
Eventually, everything in the NBA comes down to money, and there's a lot at
stake for Bynum. He has one more year remaining on his rookie contract, but
he can sign an extension this summer. It's not good for your negotiating
position if you haven't played in six months. It also wouldn't be fair to
judge him coming off a few weeks of tentative play as he re-adjusts to the
game in the most pressure-packed time of the year.
在NBA，所有事情最終還是跟錢有關，而這對Bynum很不利。他的新秀約只剩下一年，他在
這個夏天可以簽下延長合約，但以一個缺席六個月的菜鳥來說很不利，就算讓他在充滿緊
張的季後賽出場幾週來讓他調整狀況也一樣。
On the other hand, Bynum's camp doesn't want him to be rushed back for the
team's benefit at his own long-term expense. On April 11, Bynum said the
possibility of lasting damage was "definitely a concern."
另一方面來說，為了他個人長遠的利益，Bynum陣營也不希望他為了球隊利益太快回到球
場。在四月十一，Bynum說他絕對會考慮上場是否會加重傷勢。
"You don't want to come back when you're not ready, have your muscles shut
down and do something really bad," Bynum said. "I want to get all the way
right before I return."
「你不想要在還沒準備好就上場，讓你的肌肉受傷或發生什麼不好的事情。」Bynum說。
「我想在所有事情都準備好了再回來。」
The Lakers don't want to alienate him. He's their most significant young
player since the last teenager they brought aboard, a guy by the name of Kobe
Bryant. They used the No. 10 pick -- their highest in 11 years -- to choose
Bynum in the 2005 draft. They placed enough value in him to pass on a trade
for Jason Kidd last year, one of the management decisions that caused a
frustrated Bryant to publicly air his trade demands. On the other hand, the
Lakers owe Gasol $49.3 million over the next three years, Lamar Odom $14.6
million next year and Bryant $69 million over the next three years --
probably more if he opts out after next season and re-signs with the Lakers.
湖人並不希望疏遠他，他是湖人選到的另一個很有希望的年輕人，上一個叫做Kobe
Bryant。他們在2005年用十一年來最高的選秀順位，第十選了Bynum，足夠在去年夏天
換到Jason Kidd，這個被總管停止讓Bryant幹得要死的交易。不過從另外一方面來說，
湖人在之後三年還須付Gasol四千九百三十多萬美金，Lamar Odom一千四百六十多萬一年，
以及Bryant六千九百多萬美金三年，他如果夏季選擇跳出合約，與湖人重簽可能可以得到
更多。
Do the Lakers pay to keep all of them around? Do they pay Bynum the money he
wants if he'll be relegated to a backup behind Gasol and Odom, both of whom
have played at All-Star levels lately? I'd take the long-term view. Leave him
out for these playoffs, so he won't have to play with fear or extra pressure.
Sign him to an extension this summer. If the full house doesn't work out, if
there isn't enough time and space to be divvied up among the frontcourt
players, they could always trade him.
湖人會願意全部留下來嗎？如果Bynum成為Gasol與Odom的替補，湖人還願意付這麼多錢
嗎？這兩人最近都打的很像全明星，所以我看的比較長遠。不要讓他（Bynum）在季後賽上
場，在夏天與他簽下延長合約。如果葫蘆打不過同花，如果前場球員的上場時間空間不夠
分，那他們還可以交易他。
If they got Pau Gasol for Kwame Brown, imagine what they could get for Bynum.
如果連Kwame Brown都能換到Pau Gasol，那Bynum可以換來什麼呢？
J.A. Adande is the author of "The Best Los Angeles Sports Arguments." He
joined ESPN.com as an NBA columnist in August 2007 after 10 years with the
Los Angeles Times. Click here to e-mail J.A.
