Bynum: “I just want to be a Laker… it doesn’t have to be the max money for me”

This kid has won me over. This is huge. The kid is a WINNER!

L.A. Times: In an interview toward the end of the regular season, Bynum said he wanted to stay with the team and did not necessarily expect a maximum contract extension of about $80 million.”I just want to be a Laker,” he said. “As long as they treat me right, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t have to be max [money] for me. I just want to be able to live comfortably and take care of my family.”

Related Posts  -
Agent says Lakers’ Bynum wants maximum contract extension
BREAKING NEWS: Lakers, Andrew Bynum agree to four-year deal
Not the greatest start for Andrew Bynum
The Bynum Extension
Mitch Wants Bynum’s Future With Lakers Secured by Oct. 31st

51 Responses to “Bynum: “I just want to be a Laker… it doesn’t have to be the max money for me””


  1. Gravatar Icon 1 lakerschamps08

    WOW WEEK WENT FROM JUST HORRIBLE TO HELL YEA AND WATCH OUT BITHES IN BOSTON HERE WE COME…

  2. Gravatar Icon 2 Sako

    i love having this guy on our team. watch out next year

  3. Gravatar Icon 3 Micah

    That’s good to hear, kinda alleviates that sting left from Boston. Shows how much he cares about winning, the money doesn’t matter. Look out Boston we’re only getting started!

  4. Gravatar Icon 4 LakerNation1

    and here we……go!

  5. Gravatar Icon 5 kb24 4life

    hahah cant wait to see this team together for the first team..
    other teams should be scared, very scared..:)

  6. Gravatar Icon 6 ab17

    wow this kid is very humbble
    great guy.

  7. Gravatar Icon 7 kb24 4life

    kb24 4life on June 19, 2008 at 12:59 am said:

    hahah cant wait to see this team together for the first team..
    other teams should be scared, very scared..:)

    FIRST TIME..

  8. Gravatar Icon 8 kelvlam

    Now, that’s what will come out of a player that’s play with HEART! The desire, the fire, to win a championship!

    I can’t wait to cheer for the 2009 NBA Champion!!!

  9. Gravatar Icon 9 domz

    Yeah..The Boy is humble and is willing to win..Hope you play healthy next year andrew!

  10. Gravatar Icon 10 PAU A MBENGA

    He doesn’t deserve the max contract coming off of knee surgery. Glad we both agree.

  11. Gravatar Icon 11 rawnnn

    some of these nba superstars should take a lesson from this young man… when was the last time u heard a player say he didn’t care about the money,as long as he could take care of his family, and just continue to dream about being a laker..

    it almost left a tear in my eye just reading it..lolz

  12. Gravatar Icon 12 sK

    i think that’s how each of us fans would respond if we were Bynum. That’s exactly what we would day..

    ….. and um yea Andrew youll be comfortable… trust me.

  13. Gravatar Icon 13 deus_ex

    This kid is very mature for his age. Too bad other players can’t adopt the same philosophy.

  14. Gravatar Icon 14 Jonathan

    this guy is very inspirational. I love this guy’s determination, strive, and patience. He has the makings of becoming a TRUE CHAMPION.

  15. Gravatar Icon 15 goodfella

    wow, i can’t believe i just heard this kid say that. lots of guys in the nba can learn something from this kid, cough, cough kobe.

  16. Gravatar Icon 16 xtro

    Truly the opposite of Shaq “Are you gonna m…f..g pay me!!” ‘O Neal.
    Can you spell D-Y-N-A-S-T-Y?

  17. Gravatar Icon 17 daboss1848

    “I dont want 80″

    I WANT 75!!!

    lol

  18. Gravatar Icon 18 sammie

    Bynum is SO ready for next season, can’t wait to see the real damage this guy can give to other teams, especially the celtics. Gasol will help him out too.

  19. Gravatar Icon 19 T.A.

    3 Team trade

    LAKERS GET MIKE MILLER, ANTONIO MCDYESS AND JASON MAXIELL

    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2769~2775~530~2996~987~558~617~1016&teams=29~13~13~29~8~13~29~8&te=&cash=

    WE GIVE UP ODOM BUT WE GET SHOOTING AND TOUGHNESS

  20. Gravatar Icon 20 DCLAKER

    I’m going to cry for hours after that comment.

    I told y’all THE RETURN OF “THE GAME”!!!

  21. Gravatar Icon 21 Dave

    Gasol can help, but the dude seriously needs to spend every day of the off-season in the gym hitting the weights. I didn’t like the way he was pushed around in the paint. He’s definitely got the skills, now its time for the “massively-manly-man-brute-strength” part.

  22. Gravatar Icon 22 T.A.

    Next years lineup via trade

    Starters:
    PG- D Fish
    SG- KOBE
    SF- Mike Miller
    PF- Gasol
    C- Bynum

    BENCH:
    PG- Farmar
    SG- SASHA/KARL
    SF- ARIZA/WALTON
    PF- MCDYESS/MAXIELL/TURIAF/MIHM

  23. Gravatar Icon 23 Mark

    Celtics fans could rejoice and revel in their triumph, but please don’t gloat too much over us.

    Let’s put it this way, please give us a chance to redeem ourselves.

    Let’s own these finals stage again in 2009 and with our beloved young center, Andrew Bynum, back at full strength and who figures to get better, let’s see who’s the real best team here.

    A big congratulations to the gang green Celtics!

    It’s really a shame our season would have to end that way.

    Atrocious. But we’ll take that. There ain’t anything we can do.

    Here’s a simple note Laker fans can look forward to and be pumped up enough for the upcoming season:

    A Lakers 2009 title would erase glimpses of that painful finals series loss in memory, coming from the hands of the Mighty Celtics yet again, and most important, establish the franchise as the team of the decade. A Kobe fourth championship would earn the club its sixth finals appearance of the new millennium and fourth title of the decade, the most among other teams.

    I wish us all the best in the coming years.

    Our team was built for the long run. We have guys who are relatively young at this stage in their careers. They have a lot of potential and lofty promises ahead which figure to be a silver lining right in the face of this esteem-gnawing setback.

    I hope Phil Jackson puts premium on defense-first approach. They have to come back a better defensive team.

    Let’s move on and keep the faith up!

    God bless us all!

  24. Gravatar Icon 24 123kid

    i think many of you guys hit it on the money. bynum is true to just playing for the love of the game and not the money. with a guy like this for many years, i see him taking pay cuts for other stars to come to l.a when kobe is retired.

    and as for pau, dont worry guys! we dont need to trade him, cuz with bynum, pau, and kareem working together over the summer, we can create the new twin towers of the future.

  25. Gravatar Icon 25 lakerschamps08

    LOL DABOSS. U KNOW THAT AINT HAPPENIN..

  26. Gravatar Icon 26 mar

    LBJ 2010?

  27. Gravatar Icon 27 ab5sure

    cant afford LBJ in 2010 with KB, PG and AB on the books . . move on

    If the kid was all about playing and winning, he wouldnt have had the operation and wouldve suited up for the FINALS (my frustration has been toned down tremendously) . . . yes yes yes i dont know the extent of the medical issue - but all reports were, clean out cartilage and smooth out rough patches . . . we had a guy playing with 4 fingers and another one whose leg couldve fallen off at the knee with any wrong move (it happens to be that those two guys know hard it is to get there)!!!!

    damn damn damn

    (by the way, lets see him sign for 40-50 mil b4 we crown him some saint who plays for the love of the game) - his agent will make that decision

  28. Gravatar Icon 28 Short Diezel

    WE NEED YOU BYNUM!!!!

  29. Gravatar Icon 29 vintij

    Thats the dumbest trade on earth, we just dealt with memphis, i doubt they want to deal mike miller seeing as he is the new # 2 guy, as bad as that sounds. They know odom is not a # 2 guy plus $ dont add up. Besides, why would you give up odoms walking mismatch for a few role players. Especially since odom is moving to SF next season, hes going to be even more of a walking mismatch. Hes going to take lebron, carmelo, pierce…..whithout worrying about the paint with bynum and gasol down low.

  30. Gravatar Icon 30 rpvega

    Go Lakers!
    The Conquest begins!!!!!

  31. Gravatar Icon 31 gugy

    Odom must go. His salary will be very attractive to many teams. I want Vlad and Luke to disappear, but it will be much harder to move those two out.

    Bye. by Odom.

  32. Gravatar Icon 32 lakerfan

    People be real. This interview was at the end of the regular season. He says he doesn’t want max money. But he probably wants close to it now that the entire laker Nation (and Kobe) saying that Andrew Bynum will make a difference. Do you think his agent will allow anything less? Big men are hard to find and he has great upside. Is he worth the max money? You gotta be realistic. He was only average at best from October through January. He’s not worth max money but will get close to it.

    I’m telling you Laker Nation, we could have beaten the C’s with our playoff roster. If Sasha plays “D” and doesn’t let Ray Ray get that layup we are playing 7 games.

  33. Gravatar Icon 33 ab5sure

    even if Sasha plays D . . . lakers down 3 with less than 15 seconds
    (lets not get silly with the ifs, ands or butts)

  34. Gravatar Icon 34 Shawn

    AB17EEN is kicka$$ cant wait for next year

  35. Gravatar Icon 35 lakerfan

    you are right….”lets not get silly with the ifs, ands or butts” We just got out butts kicked and embarrased. But if the refs…..whoa sorry.

    However, I won’t even blink the day Sasha leaves the Lakers. Its like Mitch tried to make up for passing on Ginobili by picking up any available euro. Too bad we played soft like euro’s.

  36. Gravatar Icon 36 ab4sure

    I am not surprized to hear him say that. He always gives great interviews and exhibited humility in his answers. We saw the talent from the beginning… we some of us..lol .. when he came back at Shaq after Shaq dunked on him.. when he started the season out great two years ago but tired out due to conditioning and being only nineteen and still growing. Now with this comment. He is maturing not only physically but as a person of character not withstanding the mistakes he made and will make as a young person. Remember when he accidentally said fuking on tv.. he expressed great remorse… Shaq would purposely cuss on tv and not apologize.

    Bynum… whatever you lose when you don’t try to milk a max contract this yr. or next you will gain in good will and dollars through many endorsements. No wonder your my favorite player despite your youth.

  37. Gravatar Icon 37 Michael_23

    This guy keep playing like he is, he will get money from other deals, Gatorade, Nike, Addidas, commercials, etc.

    He’ll be fine.

  38. Gravatar Icon 38 JayC55

    I love him

  39. Gravatar Icon 39 ab4sure

    daboss1848 on June 19, 2008 at 8:46 am said:

    “I dont want 80″

    I WANT 75!!!

    lol

    It is refreshing to hear him say that. Also, their are many teams in the nba who would clear out cap space for next summer if they knew they could sign him. And yes he could get max if he went that route, so forgoing 5 million aint that bad. I look for him to get a contract like Al Jefferson of 5 for 65 at least.. we probably looking at between 70-75.

  40. Gravatar Icon 40 ab4sure

    lakerfan on June 19, 2008 at 11:06 am said:

    People be real. This interview was at the end of the regular season. He says he doesn’t want max money. But he probably wants close to it now that the entire laker Nation (and Kobe) saying that Andrew Bynum will make a difference. Do you think his agent will allow anything less? Big men are hard to find and he has great upside. Is he worth the max money? You gotta be realistic. He was only average at best from October through January. He’s not worth max money but will get close to it.

    I’m telling you Laker Nation, we could have beaten the C’s with our playoff roster. If Sasha plays “D” and doesn’t let Ray Ray get that layup we are playing 7 games.

    Bynum was on the verge of a breakout season, averaging 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds a game, numbers aided by six dominant games in January in which he averaged 17.3 points and 12.2 rebounds before getting hurt.

    That is not average… but probably in the top 5 atleast in the NBA.

  41. Gravatar Icon 41 Geloman

    T.A. on June 19, 2008 at 9:08 am said:

    3 Team trade

    LAKERS GET MIKE MILLER, ANTONIO MCDYESS AND JASON MAXIELL

    http://games.espn.go.com/nba/features/traderesult?players=2769~2775~530~2996~987~558~617~1016&teams=29~13~13~29~8~13~29~8&te=&cash=

    WE GIVE UP ODOM BUT WE GET SHOOTING AND TOUGHNESS

    Don’t understand how Detroit would accept our garbage with such a bad contract. And, Memphis wants to dump salary to rebuild. Why would they take in Odom’s hefty contact and inconsistent play? In fact,the Lakers offered Odom in a package for Gasol but Memphis didn’t want Odom’s salary.

    I agree, these guys would be great to have and are perfect for what we need, but actually acquiring is a whole different and complicated story.

  42. Gravatar Icon 42 DCLAKER

    Mitch needs to call the one guy who can fix ALL our problems……Pat Riley,HELL YEAH,SON!HELL YEAH!He should call him up and say these 3 words,WE WANT HASLEM!WE WANT HASLEM!

    Then pry Pietrus from GS and get Gerald Green or get Richard Jefferson,OMG!

    THECHAMPSOF’09.com,ENJOY THE YEAR WITH THAT TROPHY,SMELL-TICS,’CAUSE YOU ALL KNOW THAT IT’S COMING BACK TO LA!

  43. Gravatar Icon 43 ab4sure

    PAU A MBENGA on June 19, 2008 at 1:31 am said:

    He doesn’t deserve the max contract coming off of knee surgery. Glad we both agree.

    He could get one if he demanded one. He is showing alittle class here.

  44. Gravatar Icon 44 Kobe8>24

    wow, how many players in the league would say that? i respect this kid a whole lot now..

  45. Gravatar Icon 45 daboss1848

    they all say theyre not about the money

    its what’s on the paper they sign that separates the talkers from the walkers . . .

  46. Gravatar Icon 46 golakers

    Andrew Bynum showed how serious he was at improving last summer by taking it on himself to hire a personal trainer. As a result, he was the talk of the NBA before injuring his knee. I have no doubt that he will exhibit that same work ethic this summer and will be ready to contribute next Fall. He’s a great young player with his head on straight. Look for him to become one of the best the Lakers haver ever had. He will get bigger and better right along with the rest of this young Laker squad. With a leader like Kobe, this team is on it’s way. Lakers all the way in ‘09!

  47. Gravatar Icon 47 CD3

    NOW THAT IS MOTIVATION!

  48. Gravatar Icon 48 Lakers09Champs

    Next season is going to be {Profanity isn't allowed on theLakersNation.com -- Please go back and edit your comment. Thank you.}ing sick. I can’t wait.
    Lakers 09 Champions!!!!!!

  49. Gravatar Icon 49 Lakers09Champs

    Next season is going to be freaking sick. I can’t wait.
    Lakers 09 Champions!!!

  50. Gravatar Icon 50 willow

    His comments gives me goosebumps. I love the fire and passion this kid has unlike most of our guys and he’s only 20 years old! Even if he’s not asking for the max I’d say give him the max just for the mere fact he wants to be here and WIN!!!

  51. Gravatar Icon 51 ab4sure

    ab5sure on June 19, 2008 at 10:42 am said:

    cant afford LBJ in 2010 with KB, PG and AB on the books . . move on

    If the kid was all about playing and winning, he wouldnt have had the operation and wouldve suited up for the FINALS (my frustration has been toned down tremendously) . . . yes yes yes i dont know the extent of the medical issue - but all reports were, clean out cartilage and smooth out rough patches . . . we had a guy playing with 4 fingers and another one whose leg couldve fallen off at the knee with any wrong move (it happens to be that those two guys know hard it is to get there)!!!!

    damn damn damn

    (by the way, lets see him sign for 40-50 mil b4 we crown him some saint who plays for the love of the game) - his agent will make that decision

    Yes your right you don’t know the medical issues. Can’t judge what you don’t know.


Go Home

Leave a Reply