LAKERS NOTEBOOK: BYNUM BETTER BY A YEAR.

Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer

OAKLAND -- If only he had remembered to charge his cell phone, Lakers center Andrew Bynum might have had some idea of how his 18-point, nine-rebound effort in Tuesday's season opener had been received.

``I haven't been in contact with anyone for about a day now,'' Bynum said.

With every hook shot he hit, with every cutter he found, Bynum impressed in his first NBA start. After spending so much of his rookie season on the bench, Bynum was a deciding factor in the Lakers' victory over Phoenix.

The question put to assistant coach Kurt Rambis before Wednesday's game was whether the 19-year-old Bynum could have delivered such a performance last season had he gotten minutes.

``I don't think so,'' Rambis said. ``If you look at a videotape of him last year and look at him this year, his body's been redefined. He's a lot stronger now than he was last year, his conditioning is a lot better.

``It's been an educational process for him, too, just to do some of the things that we want him to do, trying to learn the offense and play at this level. Going from high school to the pros is a tremendous leap.''

As a rookie, Bynum had a memorable dunk against Shaquille O'Neal and a fourth quarter to remember at Madison Square Garden. But Bynum agreed with Rambis.

``I definitely wasn't prepared for it last season,'' Bynum said. ``I did a lot of training this offseason and got myself ready.''

Rambis stressed that Bynum is benefiting from being such an unknown to opposing teams. The Lakers will have to decide what to do with Bynum once Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm return from injuries in the coming month.

Bryant update: Kobe Bryant had another round of treatment on his right knee Wednesday at the Lakers' practice facility. Bryant will be a game- time decision to play Friday against Seattle, a team spokesman said.