Sixers Notebook: Andrew Bynum won’t set return date

The much-anticipated debut of Andrew Bynum in a Sixers uniform remains on hold.

Bynum will wait until at least Dec. 10 when he’s able to resume basketball-related activities. It’ll probably be until sometime in January when he’s able to play in a game.

The bone bruise on Bynum’s knee still needs time to heal, which is why the Sixers pushed back his return yet again. When asked about it, the center refused to view the injury update as bad news.

“It’s not a setback,” Bynum said. “It really was the original plan. I was talking to my doctor and he said it would take eight to 12 weeks. That’s a few months’ time. I’m feeling better every day, and we took an MRI on November 5 and it showed that the bone bruise is getting better.”

Bynum said if the Sixers were competing in the playoffs, he would be on the court with his teammates. There’s simply no reason to rush back for the seventh game of the regular season against the Bucks.

“I want to get out there and I want to play,” Bynum said.

Sixers coach Doug Collins knows about playing through injuries. He had his share as a player and doesn’t want to put any added pressure on his All-Star center.

“The thing that’s hard is that any time there is something that is open-ended, the day comes and it doesn’t happen and you’re like, ‘Why not?’ and that’s why you have to very careful about open-ended things,” Collins said. “I’ve always said that nature takes its course and there’s a healing that goes along with it. Certain people react a little different when they come back depending on how their leg is or how young or old they are.

“So I have just tried to stay away from that, but there is one thing I want our fans to know, Andrew wants to play. He wants to play, he wants to get out there and he wants to play. He also understands that if he takes all of this time to and misses a step along the way and goes backwards and has to start all over, it’s not going to be any good for anybody.”

In the meantime, Bynum continues to support his new team, which began the night 4-2. The Sixers just returned from a 3-0 road trip at New Orleans, Boston and Toronto.

“The team looks phenomenal out there,” Bynum said. “They really bounced back after the games against New York and they got out on the road and took care of business.”