Wondering what led to the Cleveland Cavaliers suspending Andrew Bynum and then eventually pulling the plug on the entire experiment by trading him to the Chicago Bulls?
Wonder no longer.
During Adrian Wojnarowski's scathing take on the Cavs' failure of a season, the Yahoo! Sports reporter revealed that the 7-footer was a "disruptive presence" in practice. Try not to act too surprised, based on what you've already learned about the man who hasn't been productive since leaving the Los Angeles Lakers.
"He stopped trying on the floor and became a disruptive presence in practices," writes Wojnarowski. "Before Bynum was thrown out of his final practice and suspended, he was shooting the ball every time he touched it in a practice scrimmage, sources said—from whatever remote part of the court he had caught the ball."
Can you imagine how annoying that would be?
We've all been at a pickup basketball game and gotten annoyed by the guy who insists on shooting the ball every time he touches it. But doing that during an NBA practice where players are trying to improve their skills and further their chances of making an impact for the Cavs is just taking things too far.
Of course, this shouldn't come as too big a shock.
Remember that play?
In 2012, when he played for the Lakers, Bynum lofted up an attempt from the top of the key during a close game, and the shot clock wasn't even down to its last legs. Head coach Mike Brown took no time at all before he substituted Josh McRoberts into the contest.
A few years later, Brown and Bynum were reunited in Cleveland, and the coach had a new take on the shooting, per The Plan Dealer's Jodie Valade: "He's a guy who can post up, shoot right hand, left hand jump hooks. He can shoot a turnaround jump shot, he can shoot a jump shot. He's a very capable three-point shooter."
Notice Brown said that Bynum "can" do all of those things—not that he can actually make the shots, though I'm intentionally and admittedly making a mockery of the coach's quote.
Bynum didn't stop wanting to shoot three-pointers after the original fiasco, and he certainly didn't in practice with the Cavaliers.
If his antics wouldn't fly for a Cleveland organization that has completely failed to garner any positive headlines during the 2013-14 season, they certainly won't with the Indiana Pacers.
Good luck, Frank Vogel.
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