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Bynum suspended by Cavs, facing uncertain future

Former Sixer Andrew Bynum has been suspended by Cleveland, which hopes to void the rest of his contract.

BOSTON - When Byron Scott was coaching the Cleveland Cavaliers last year and Mike Brown was living in Los Angeles, various figures within the organization didn't think Scott did a good enough job of holding players accountable.

Scott was fired the day after the season ended and Brown was rehired, in large part with the belief he would do a better job of holding all players accountable to the same standard.

Brown has been harder on franchise player Kyrie Irving privately than Scott was, according to team sources, and he has indeed set a standard the players are expected to meet.

That brings us to Saturday's suspension of Andrew Bynum. Something happened during practice Friday, which one source referred to as the "straw that broke the camel's back," but wouldn't divulge what exactly happened because it was simply a continuation of a behavioral pattern that had been ongoing for weeks. Had it been an isolated incident, no one would've said or done anything.

Bynum admitted in early November he was still considering retirement, he still had sharp pains in his knees when he ran and he was discouraged by the deterioration in his game. He had lost his joy for basketball, he said, and wasn't sure if he would get it back.

Brown, at least publicly, ignored the rhetoric and insisted Bynum could return to an All-Star level. When asked in late November, when Bynum was shooting 35 percent and struggling to fit in, if all of this was worth it, Brown snapped, "Hell [expletive] yes," then walked away, turning only to add, "he's part of our plan."

Not anymore.

As Bynum struggled much of the season, Brown said his young players had never played with a post presence like him and simply didn't know how to use him effectively or how to get him the ball properly in the post. But Brown subtly shifted the focus in recent days away from the rest of the players and onto Bynum, particularly after he missed all 11 of his shots in a bad loss to the Pistons last week.

"Bynum has been up and down," Brown said. "Sometimes his down has been because we can't get him the ball. But we have ways now we've figured out to get him the ball, now it's a matter of him producing."

But he couldn't, at least not consistently. He departs averaging 8.4 points and 5.3 rebounds while shooting 42 percent - a fraction of his final healthy season with the Lakers when he averaged 18.7 points, 11.8 rebounds and shot 56 percent.

Bynum is incredibly intelligent and has always been viewed as an introvert. He kept to himself with the Cavs, typically spent pregames alone with his headphones on and rarely interacted with teammates.

"That's how people are sometimes," said teammate Jarrett Jack. "Some people like to march to the beat of their own drum. Not saying that's a bad thing. That's just how you are as an individual. We had a pretty good relationship with him. He wasn't somebody who was reluctant to speak to people."

Yet other players privately insisted Saturday that while Bynum was always quiet, he was even more withdrawn in recent weeks. One Cavs player said he wasn't surprised with Saturday's outcome.

"It has to be hard for him," he said. "To go from being an All-Star to what he is now, that has to be hard to handle."

"What he is now," is a veteran with two bad knees, $73 million in NBA checks, two championship rings, an All-Star appearance and a current employer that is finally conceding he doesn't seem to want to play anymore.

In November, when Bynum admitted he still considered retirement, the Cavs initially tried downplaying his remarks. Now they've stopped defending him.

Given the lack of interest in him last summer, coupled with his own admittance he doesn't enjoy the game anymore, his career could be finished.