by Jason Wolf, USA TODAY Sports

Injured Philadelphia 76ers center Andrew Bynum pushed back the timetable for his season debut once again Tuesday, telling reporters he expects to join practice in “a week, could be two” and that he’s certain he’ll play this season.

That despite continuing to experience pain in his left knee and having an appointment with yet another doctor scheduled for Wednesday.

“I’ll definitely be back sometime this year,” Bynum said.

He previously said he hoped to make his season debut “around the All-Star break.” Before that, he was targeting a return to the court in mid-December.

Bone bruises and cartilage damage in both knees have prevented Bynum from practicing or playing in a game since the Sixers acquired the one-time All-Star from the Los Angeles Lakers in a four-team trade in August.

The 7-foot, 305-pound Bynum plans to visit Dr. Jonathan Glashow, an orthopedic surgeon and co-chief of sports medicine at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, for an examination on Wednesday. Glashow repaired cartilage damage in veteran Sixers guard Jason Richardson’s left knee on Tuesday morning. The injury, as described by the Sixers in a press release, was “an articular cartilage lesion on the medial femoral condyle in Richardson’s left knee.” Richardson, 32, is expected to be sidelined for nine to 12 months.

“He said he has some new software or something that can show what’s going on,” Bynum said about Glashow. “I’m waiting to see what he says.”

Bynum, 25, has previously been treated by Sixers team doctors and his longtime personal orthopedist, Dr. David Altchek of the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. Bynum is making $16.9 million this season and will become an unrestricted free agent this summer. He’s in search of a long-term deal and a nine-figure pay day, but said his contract situation won’t hasten his return to the court.

“I’d rather be healthy,” Bynum said. “I think that everybody knows what I can do at this point in the league, and the question with me is going to be, ‘Are my knees going to hold up?’ That’s going to be the big question. That’s what the organizations have to think about.”

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