Andrew Bynum Says Kobe Bryant Stunted His Growth, Do You Buy It?

All-Star center Andrew Bynum has never been shy about airing his uncensored opinions. During his time in Los Angeles, he pretty much said whatever the hell he wanted at any given time, and now that he’s been traded to Philadelphia, his willingness to shoot from the hip definitely has not softened.

Prior to today’s game against the Lakers, Bynum told a group of reporters that the last few years playing with Kobe Bryant really stunted his growth because of how much the guard dominates the ball. Here’s a look at a portion of the quote, as per ESPN

”I thought it really helped me a lot obviously at first, because he draws so much attention it's hard for guys to double team and key on you, so it helped me tremendously. Later, I felt I was able to get the ball more and do more things with the ball, so I could definitely see how it could stunt growth."

Given the Lakers won two championships during Bynum’s tenure and were an extremely successful team, it’s a bit strange that the center looks back on his time, at least in some ways, as a bit of a disappointment because he didn’t get better. Maybe with a few seasons and more time with the ball, he’ll turn into one of the better players in the league. Then again, maybe we’ll find out he really needed all the attention Bryant got to thrive.

What do you think about Bynum’s comments? Did Kobe really stunt his growth, or is he just spewing nonsense? Let us know your thoughts by voting in the poll below…

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Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.