Andrew Bynum Suspended: Also, The Sun Rose Today

Dec 23, 2013; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers center

reacts in the second quarter against the Detroit Pistons at Quicken Loans Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Andrew Bynum suspended — you don’t say! The only way I could have been more surprised is if Michael Beasley were caught with some pot down in Miami. As Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com reported this morning, Bynum has been suspended indefinitely for “conduct detrimental to the team.” If you didn’t see that one coming, you must be new to watching the NBA.

Bynum wasn’t having a horrible year, but he certainly wasn’t the same guy as he was in Los Angeles…you know, except for the rubbing his teammates the wrong way and getting in trouble part. When your coach makes comments about being worried about the locker room and when your star in Kyrie Irving comes out and says “It’s a terrible situation internally with our team,” that’s really not good.

Luckily for owner Dan Gilbert and the Cavaliers, they saw the potential for this back when Bynum signed his two-year, $24 million contract. That contract only has $6 million guaranteed and the Cavs could choose to trade or cut him before January 7th to save a lot of money. Bynum isn’t going to travel with the team and it’s all but certain his time in a Cavs uniform is over.

A funny side note here is how the Cavs were planning to give away Bynum “Fathead” wall decals to children before tonight’s game against the Boston Celtics. So much for that, unless they wanted to have some internal jokes about ego or something.

There’s no question Bynum will find a spot somewhere, as he does still have talent and is only 26 years old. Still, he’s yet to show the kind of maturity that one needs to be successful in the NBA on your own. When he played with Kobe Bryant, Kobe kept him in line. There’s nobody in Cleveland to do that, which is probably why Bynum failed there.

He could certainly find himself on a contender that needs help in the middle ::cough Miami Heat cough:: and you could be sure the veterans there would keep him in line. Until then, Bynum can sit at home and wait for his next opportunity.