Kobe Bryant sends mixed messages about Andrew Bynum

OK, this is kind of weird. It doesn’t really matter, it’s just kind of weird. Here’s Kobe Bryant’s message on Facebook to Andrew Bynum on Friday:

I wish nothing but the best for Big Bynum. I hope he follows what was a great season last year with an even better one next year.

via Well, it looks like....

And that’s sweet, right? I mean, that’s a nice, seemingly genuine sentiment towards a young player that Bryant really supported throughout his career. It was baffling last year when Bynum would ignore play sets and ignore huddles, yet Bryant not only didn’t seek out correcting him, but didn’t get angry about it in the press. For a guy that has continually lashed out at teammates for not living up to his high expectations, Bynum always kind of got a pass. So maybe he just has that kind of affection for him. But then, from the New York Daily News, there’s this quote from Bryant after Team USA’s win yesterday:

“The consensus (among his Olympic teammates) was that there was no way we could get Dwight and still keep Pau. They all know what Pau does for us. I said I think we can make it happen, they said no.

“Well, we got Pau for virtually nothing, so history does repeat itself.”

via Kobe Bryant ‘excited’ for Lakers franchise after L.A. lands Dwight Howard in four-team blockbuster trade - NY Daily News.

So Bynum had a “great season” but was “virtually nothing?” How does that work?

Again, it doesn’t matter, it’s just weird. You can make the argument that he’s more referring to the fact that the Lakers didn’t have to give up more than one player, and as there are only maybe two players on the planet better than Howard, that’s a huge win under any lens. But for someone as well-versed in the media as Kobe, we’re used to seeing daggers hidden behind innocuous comments when he talks to reporters. We never really got to understand the Kobe-Bynum relationship, and we probably never will.

Besides, we have a whole new dynamic to try and unravel.