WEEK 4, DEBATE 2: Andre Iguodala vs. Andrew Bynum

        

VS.

Who would you rather have this season: Andre Iguodala or Andrew Bynum?

IGUODALA'S REP:

"Andre Iguodala, aka 'freak of nature,' is a gifted player. He is naturally talented but hasn’t improved that talent yet. If he got good teammates, he would be a better player. Iguodala’s a swingman and everybody likes to see his awesome windmill dunks. When he plays more effectively on offense, he’ll be one of the best players in the NBA. He’s a tough defender, named to the 2nd All-Defensive Team in 2011. He also ranks 2nd in assists/game among non-point guards. He always carries the Sixers with his assists and rebounds. In 2010, Iguodala helped his teammates get the title at the FIBA World Championships. They played twelve games and got twelve victories. Thanks to Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum looks okay, but really he isn’t that good of a player. He made a rude faul on J.J. Barea in the Playoffs and was suspended for 5 games as a result."

BYNUM'S REP:

"OK, to be clear, I would not take Andrew Bynum over Andre Iguodala for the first 5 games of this season! All kidding aside, I was appalled at the foul Bynum committed against J.J. Barea in the 2011 Playoffs; likewise I was appalled when Jason Kidd assaulted his wife in 2001 and when Kobe Bryant had inappropriate sexual relations with a woman in Denver in 2003. Both of these players went forward from there to become better players and, more importantly, better men. I am hoping the same will happen with Andrew Bynum. For there is no question that his basketball talent is outstanding. The guy can block shots and rebound like a monster. Last year against Dwight Howard—the premier center in the NBA—Bynum had 18 rebounds! A couple of weeks later, he posted 23 rebounds against the Jazz! And don’t forget, he already has two Championship rings!"

IGUODALA'S REP:

"Who would take Andrew Bynum over Andre Iguodala? I think nobody would. At first people said Bynum was going to be the new Shaq, but he hasn’t been anything close. You said, ‘Don’t forget that Bynum has two rings.’ The legend Michael Jordan has 6 rings. Let’s look at the Lakers: Kobe and Derek Fisher have 5 rings. Can we say that Fisher and Kobe are equal? No. Likewise, Fisher and Bynum got these rings thanks to Kobe, Gasol, and Shaq. He isn’t the primary player to get these rings for his team; he’s just a regular player in the NBA. He’s lucky to play for L.A. If he played in another market, you wouldn’t follow him this much. In blogs, people write hateful things about Bynum because he makes lots of flagrant fouls. Watch the ones on J.J. Barea, Michael Beasley, and Gerald Wallace sometime."

BYNUM'S REP:

"Andrew Bynum is a big reason (pun intended) that the Lakers won two out of the last three NBA Championships. He and Gasol are a “dynamic duo”; while Pau has more finesse to his game, Bynum is nearly unstoppable when he is facing the basket and dunking the ball or slamming down a rebound. While his scoring numbers went down the last half of last season, it was because Coach Phil Jackson asked him to focus more on defense and leave the bulk of the scoring to Bryant, Gasol, and Odom. The result: the Lakers won 17 of 18 games and Bynum averaged 12 rebounds and more than 2 blocks per night. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been Bynum’s personal mentor since he entered the league at age 17. He has high hopes for this young center: so do I!"

Who won this debate? Go to the right sidebar to cast your vote!