With one flagrant elbow to the chest of Michael Beasley, Andrew Bynum will lose a combined $250,000. The inconsistent league office has ruled that Drew will be suspended for the next two contests in the wake of the incident Friday night.
Now I’m not arguing with Bynum being punished. His unwarranted action against Beasley was a punk move for sure. The type of moment of madness that can drastically alter or even possible end a career. Drew definitely doesn’t deserve to be in action tonight against Portland.
The problem is the league office doesn’t have any set guidelines for consistent punishment.
Some acts go unnoticed while others draw the ire of the commissioner for whatever reason.
Again, Bynum’s actions aren’t being defended here. In a closely contested game Drew had no business losing his cool let alone attacking a defenseless player in such a cheap fashion.
But two games seems a little harsh considering other acts that have occurred yet have gone unpunished or simply not dealt with to the same degree.
The immediate concern is how the Lakers will respond without one of the biggest reasons why they’re 11-1 since the All-Star break. The Altered Beast has been everything we’ve expected as a lord of the paint.
The good news is that playing without Bynum is nothing new. Roles won’t shift as much as they’ll just be reassumed. Still, this is bad timing given the groove Drew and the Lakers are in.