"The Lakers keep getting reminded about their meltdown in Dallas. It was the NBA's turn to tap them on the shoulder Tuesday.

Andrew Bynum was suspended by the league for the first five games next season without pay and will forfeit $677,272 in salary for belting diminutive Dallas guard Jose Barea in the final game of the Lakers' season Sunday.

Bynum was also fined $25,000 for removing his jersey as he left the court after getting ejected in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals.

After 48 hours of raging criticism from all corners, including many Lakers fans, Bynum apologized Tuesday for driving his forearm into the ribcage of an in-flight Barea.

Bynum said his actions "don't represent me, my upbringing, this franchise or any of the Laker fans out there that want to watch us and want us to succeed. Furthermore, and more importantly, I want to actually apologize to J.J. Barea for doing that. I'm just glad that he wasn't seriously injured in the event. All I can say is I've looked at it, it's terrible and it definitely won't be happening again."

It happened twice this season to Bynum, who drew a two-game suspension in March for flattening Minnesota forward Michael Beasley.

Tuesday was the first day of annual exit interviews for Lakers players at their training facility.

Bynum said he "didn't pay much attention" to what people said about him publicly since committing the foul on Barea. Then he jumped into his modified Porsche 911 and a sports-talk radio show drifted out of his windows.

Bynum was not contrite immediately after Sunday's game, saying he was embarrassed that the "smallest guy on the court" kept scoring on the Lakers. What changed his mind two days later when he met with reporters?

"I went and watched it," he said. "It was terrible. The whole sequence. Sometimes you just have to . . . man up and own it, and that's what happened."

Bynum said he had tried to contact Barea. "I think he has bigger and better and more important things to do so I don't know if I'll get a response back," Bynum said."