The bottom line is the Lakers aren't going to go Bynum with games on the line, if for no other reason than that would require an extra pass.

This remains Kobe's team, for better or for mass-missed-shots worse.

But the comforting aspect is having Bynum there to clean up the mistakes, on both ends of the court.

Q: All we heard the last week of the season was about Gregg Popovich and Thibodeau about Coach of the Year. What about Stan Van Gundy and what he went through?
— Mike, Windermere, Fla.

A: As impressive as it was how Van Gundy ultimately managed to keep his team at No. 6 in the East, then take the series opener in Indiana, to some the fact that he helped add to the Dwight Howard drama was something to be held against him.

But when it comes to game-day preparation and in-huddle motivation, Stan is tireless and committed and largely respected among his peers with his ability to find solutions where others only see problems.

He is a terrific coach. As a people manager is where some seem to take issue.

Q: Can the NBA force Michael Jordan out of Charlotte?
— Ralph, Cheverly, Md.

A: No, and mostly because the Bobcats can't leave Charlotte due to their lease, and who wants to own a team that plays in front of a half-empty building in a market that seems to have lost its taste for NBA basketball?

What Jordan can do is put the ego aside and step aside and let Rich Cho, a talented personnel man, truly assume control of that facet of the organization.

From Kwame Brown and Adam Morrison, Jordan simply has not displayed the pedigree for such a personnel role.

Having Jordan as the face of a franchise can work, as long as he is willing to defer to a new outlook rather than the one that has run his team into the ground.

Ira Winderman writes regularly for NBCSports.com and covers the Heat and the NBA for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. You can follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/IraHeatBeat.

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