Los Angeles Lakers

Rajon Rondo may have blown his chance with the Lakers

Even though Rajon Rondo is back from his three-game suspension, the Lakers are sticking with Lonzo Ball.

When the Los Angeles Lakers signed Rajon Rondo in the offseason, they hoped that he would fit seamlessly alongside LeBron James in a core that they hoped could compete for a championship. Given that Rondo is a veteran point guard in the NBA, and has plenty of playoff and Finals experience having played for the Boston Celtics teams that went to the Finals in 2008 and 2010 (winning in ’08), it seemed like he might be the right guy for the job.

But now the Lakers are only a few games into the 2018-19 season and they have already decided that they want to keep second-year point guard Lonzo Ball in the offense. Of course, this decision came after Rondo served a three-game suspension for getting into a brawl with Chris Paul of the Houston Rockets. Rondo threw several punches at Paul, and allegedly spit in his face.

Rondo was supposed to be the team’s starting point guard with Ball, who had somewhat of a down rookie season, recovering from injury. But with Rondo suspended for three games, Ball was thrust into action and ran with the opportunity. Ball averaged 12.7 points on 53.6 shooting and shot 40 percent from beyond the arc. More importantly, with Ball in the lineup, the Lakers went 2-1. In the two games Rondo played, they were winless.

It makes sense why head coach Luke Walton would want to keep the momentum rolling with Ball. With that being said, Rondo may have blown his opportunity with the Lakers by letting his emotions get the better of him. He’s been known as a hothead for his entire career, and apparently, that hasn’t changed in the slightest at age 32.

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Rondo seemed like the better fit with this particular Lakers team, but now that they’ve gotten the chance to see what Ball can do again, it’s highly unlikely Rondo will get that point guard job back unless Ball starts slumping. This just goes to show that being a hothead like Rondo doesn’t usually pay off.

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