Their run turns into a limp for now

There went the kneecap felt ‘round Lakerdom.

Here’s a test for Lakers fans who are limping around today in sympathy with Andrew Bynum: What does his knee injury mean for the team’s chances?

A) There goes first place in the West.

B) There goes first place in the Pacific.

C) There goes home-court advantage in the first round.

D) There goes the season.

E) There goes the franchise.

F) All of the above.

The answer is, all of the above.

Everything is back in play from the happy ending fans dared to imagine to one as dire as the organization faced last summer when the sky seemed about to fall.

The Lakers Miracle, otherwise known as this season’s start, lasted until Bynum went down Sunday, a sobering reminder of how thin the ice is under them in their peculiar situation.

Since Bynum is expected to return and the Lakers are expected to lock him up with a contract in the summer, with Kobe Bryant locked up through 2009, their big pieces are still in place.

However, their honeymoon is over and some of their big pieces have a tendency to move around.

With the Lakers playing 27 games in the eight weeks Bynum is expected to miss, nothing is safe.

Half a game from first place in the West when Bynum left, they’re only five ahead of No. 9 Utah, a rising power that won 51 games last season.

If hard times ensue, how will Bryant, who has dodged all questions about rescinding last summer’s trade demand, react?

With Bynum becoming a more major force monthly, they had a comfort margin. From now on, it will be more about Bryant’s play and all about Bryant’s attitude.

No one should be in doubt about the stakes in Bynum’s comeback.

Forget this season. Forget everything except the fact that Bynum is the No. 1 reason -- or the top 10 reasons -- that Bryant has for reconsidering his intention to leave.

As Bryant said after Monday night’s win in Seattle, in a concession he hadn’t come close to making before, “We’re a championship-caliber team with him [Bynum] in the lineup.”

How is this for a turnaround?

May: Bryant lets three fans record him ranting about not trading Bynum for Jason Kidd.

October -- Bryant’s agent Rob Pelinka tries to broker a deal sending him to Chicago.

Nov. 20 -- Bynum, who spent nine games backing up Kwame Brown and then Chris Mihm when Brown was hurt, makes his first start in Indiana, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds.

December -- Bynum, who has never left the lineup, averages 14 points for the month as the Lakers go 10-4.

Jan. 13 -- Bynum comes into Sunday’s game averaging 19 points for the month, with the Lakers 5-0.

The numbers weren’t as impressive as the spectacle.

In November, Bynum scored almost all his points on rebounds and lobs, looking awkward the few times they threw him the ball and he tried a post move.

By Sunday, he was looking like Kevin McHale with an assortment of righty and lefty jump hooks and step-throughs. He was also in the top 10 in blocks and No. 11 in rebounds.

If Bryant remained subdued off the floor, he was like a kid with a new toy, running pick-and-rolls, lobbing the ball over and over to Bynum, who caught everything.

If Bryant maintained his wait-and-see attitude after things turned up so unexpectedly, it was because he had been around long enough to know things happen.

Sunday night, something happened. Welcome to Mudville, as in Ernest Thayer’s “Casey at the Bat”:

“Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

“The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

“And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout.”

But there is no joy in Lakerdom, not with Andrew Bynum out.

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mark.heisler@latimes.com