What I do wonder about is this; the earlier article says the treatment was performed on his right knee, but this new article doesn’t mention which knee will be treated. Is it a repair of further damage done during the season? Just another in a series of regenerative treatments? A repair to the left knee? Or do the effects of the procedure fade, requiring further treatments? And if so, do the effects lessen over time? All interesting questions for the organization and fans, but probably a whole lot more interesting if they decide to keep Bynum long term. The fact that it apparently helped Kobe should be encouraging– the fact that Bynum’s already flying to other countries for experimental knee procedures at his age, not so much.

Kobe will pretty much be Kobe as long as he’s willing to play, I’m convinced of that. He’ll always take too many shots, and too many bad shots– and find a way to make enough of them to beat most teams that don’t have superior overall talent. Bynum is a much bigger concern. If this procedure doesn’t help long term, what do they go to the next time he hurts one of his knees– voodoo and chicken blood? If he gets a five or six year max deal (sorry, haven’t read the CBA) and one of his knees goes in the first couple years, that’s a massive financial anchor. I wonder if his inconsistent performance in this year’s playoffs won’t prove to be just the blatant excuse they need to foist those knees off on some unwary sucker franchise this off-season– especially if their condition can be at least temporarily improved by this procedure. If Kobe is going back for more treatment on the same knee, it’s caveat emptor in regards to Bynum. It’ll be a freakin’ travesty if they rook the Magic out of a healthy Dwight Howard in his prime, in exchange for a sulky Bynum who’s about to break down permanently.