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As the first month of the NBA season progresses, Andrew Bynum's knee injury does not seem to be getting any better. The newly acquired center has yet to play a game in a 76ers uniform, as he experiences one setback after another. On his Sixerville blog at Philly.com, Bob Cooney relays some disconcerting quotes from the center, as well as GM Tony DiLeo. Bynum indicated that the right knee is still not ready, but that he's also now experiencing a comparable issue in his left knee:
"I had a little bit of a setback. Just working through some issues with the right knee I kind of have a mirror thing going on with the left knee. I don't know what's going on. The doctors are saying it's a weakened cartilage state so we kind of wait, I guess. We can't do anything. I just have to wait for the cartilage to get strong."
"It's the same exact spot (as the right knee) with the cartilage. Just doing routine things and it started swelling up. No blunt force injury or anything like that. It's the same timetable still."
As Cooney notes, that timetable calls for a return around Dec. 10, which is fast approaching. But as expected, the Sixers are going to take it slow and not force anything if he's feeling discomfort in either knee. Bynum was acquired to be a key cog on the inside for the future, and DiLeo tells Cooney that they will re-evaluate him next month:
He'll be reevaluated in mid-December, he'll have another MRI and we'll see what the progress is. The players have to be confident that they can play. You cannot ask a player to play injured. Whenever he feels confident that he can get out there and he's healthy and he can help the team, we both want the same goal.
Bynum reportedly had an MRI this week, but the knee is still not responding to the rest and rehab. After a rough week, the Sixers got back on track on Friday night with a home win over the Utah Jazz. It was their first win at Wells Fargo Center since the opener last month.