Kobe Bryant says Andrew Bynum should be handled with care

Mike Brown benched Andrew Bynum for most of the second half against Golden State on Tuesday after the Lakers center took a three-pointer that badly missed early in the third quarter.

Lakers forward Pau Gasol also seemed concerned about Bynum’s play on a night when the center scored 11 points on four-for-13 shooting in only 23 minutes, saying it needed to be addressed.

Kobe Bryant?

He didn’t seem quite as caught up in dissecting every move made by the 24-year-old Bynum during the Lakers’ 104-101 victory at Oracle Arena.

“It’s somewhat amusing to me because he’s in some ways, the edginess and the chippiness of him makes it very easy for me to relate to him because I had some of that when I was young,” Bryant said. “It’s easy for me to see where it’s coming from.”

Does that mean Bryant supports Bynum’s decision to start acting as though the 7-footer can shoot like Reggie Miller?

“I understand where he’s coming from,” Bryant said. “The first thing you want to do if you want to get the best out of your players is you have to understand what they’re feeling, you have to understand where they’re coming from and what they want to accomplish. That’s why it’s not that big of a deal to me. You don’t see me sitting here tripping or sweating or anything like that. I’ve been there.”

Bynum didn’t seem to understand what all the fuss was about, particularly after he made his first career three-pointer Sunday against Memphis.

“I don’t know what was bench-worthy about the shot, to be honest with you,” said Bynum, who is now one for four on three-pointers this season. “I made one [Sunday], and I wanted to make another one. That’s it. I guess he [Brown] took offense to it, so he put me on the bench.”

Bynum was removed with 9:33 left in the third quarter after his errant three-pointer. Brown did not reinsert him until the beginning of the fourth quarter, and Bynum was taken out for good with 9:10 left in the game after missing three more shots, including a 12-foot turnaround.

Brown said he benched Bynum after his three-pointer because he thought the shot could have taken his team out of its rhythm.

Does Bynum intend to have a conversation with Brown about the situation?

“I’m good,” Bynum said. “I guess it’s ‘Don’t take threes’ is the message, but I’m going to take another one and I’m going to take some more, so I just hope it’s not the same result. Hopefully, I make it.”

Bryant said the situation needed to be handled delicately.

“There’s ways to address that,” Bryant said. “It’s with patience, it’s with poise, it’s with thoughtfulness to make sure the team is moving in the right direction and continues to move in the right direction.”

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Kobe Bryant says Andrew Bynum should be handled with care