Number 17. Just 1 week earlier,
that would have been his age.
November 2, 2005: Andrew Bynum, a native of Plainsboro, Mercer County, New Jersey, plays 6 minutes for the Los Angeles Lakers in their season opener, against the Denver Nuggets at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver, becoming the youngest NBA player ever: 18 years and 6 days old. The Lakers won, 99-97.
Ironically, but appropriately, the center had been personally instructed in the preseason by Laker legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, who had once been thought to have been the NBA's oldest player ever. Kareem was 42 when he bowed out after the 1989 Finals, but later research showed that Pat Hickey, who played with the Providence Steamrollers in the league's 1st 2 seasons, was just short of 46 when he last played in 1948.
Bynum is now 35, but his record still stands. He won NBA Championships with the Lakers in 2009 and '10, and was an NBA All-Star in 2012. But injuries ended his career in 2014, well before it should have ended. But then, he does have 2 titles, and I don't think we'll be seeing any more 18-year-olds playing in the NBA -- certainly not for a team with a pedigree anywhere near the Lakers'.
*
November 2, 2005 was a Wednesday. These other games were played in the NBA that night:
* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 114-100 at the TD Banknorth Garden (now the TD Garden) in Boston.
* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, 110-96 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands. Michael Redd of the Bucks led all scorers on the day with 41 points.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Orlando Magic, 90-78 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in Orlando.
* The Miami Heat beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 97-78 at the FedEx Forum in Memphis.
* The Houston Rockets beat the Sacramento Kings, 98-89 at the Toyota Center in Houston.
* The Washington Wizards beat the Toronto Raptors, 99-96 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.
* The Cleveland Cavaliers beat the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets, 109-87 at the Gund Arena (now the Rocket Arena) in Cleveland. The Hornets were playing home games at what's now the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City while the Smoothie King Center in New Orleans was being renovated after being damaged by the flooding from Hurricane Katrina.
* The Detroit Pistons beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 108-88 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Richard "Rip" Hamilton scored 37 points.
* The Chicago Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 109-105 at the United Center in Chicago.
* The Minnesota Timberwolves beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 90-86 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Utah Jazz beat the Dallas Mavericks, 93-82 at the Delta Center in St. Lake City.
* The Golden State Warriors beat the Atlanta Hawks, 122-97 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named The Arena in Oakland).
* And the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 101-93 at the Key Arena in Seattle. Sam Cassell scored 35 points.
Baseball season was over. Football was in midweek. There were 5 games in the NHL that night:
* The Ottawa Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres, 10-4 at the HSBC Arena (now the KeyBank Center) in Buffalo.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the St. Louis Blues, 6-5 at the Savvis Center (now the Enterprise Center) in St. Louis. Brent Seabrook scored the winning goal, 35 seconds into overtime.
* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Dallas Stars, 6-3 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.
* The San Jose Sharks beat the Nashville Predators, 3-2 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California. Alyn McCauley scored the winning goal, with 3:16 left in overtime.
* And the Vancouver Canucks beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at General Motors Place (now the Rogers Arena) in Vancouver.
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