The summer of reunions continued as the Los Angeles Lakers recently announced the signing of Rajon Rondo.
Rondo agreed to a buyout with the Memphis Grizzlies after being traded from the L.A. Clippers, and now finds himself back in Los Angeles with the franchise he won his second ring with. Rondo adds another veteran presence in the locker room and figures to have a role as a supplemental playmaker next to LeBron James and Russell Westbrook.
At 35 years old, Rondo adds to the collective age of the roster but the guard is not concerned about that and actually looks at it as an advantage.
“Wisdom is definitely a key to winning a championship and we have a lot of that obviously with the age and experience on the court,” Rondo said. “I’m most excited about not being the older guy on the team anymore. So I’m actually probably bottom five now so that’s a big step for me going from, two months ago, I was the older guy on the team, now I’m considered one of the young guys.
“So I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking to the naysayers saying about our age as being a problem, but obviously, you don’t have longevity in this league with having discipline, and so many guys, I just got done talking to Trevor, he’s in for 17 [years], Dwight 18, Bron 18. So we have the guys that have a lot of mileage, but at the same time, there’s a reason they’re still playing in this league at this level for so many years. So I’m not worried about anything or the spectators saying that age makes a difference. I think the mind is going to be the big key in why we win this year.”
Each veteran player on the roster has taken the age insults and jokes in stride and all of them view it similarly to Rondo. Age is not much of a factor when it comes to the playoffs, and the Lakers are well-equipped to handle the 16-game format when the regular season ends.
It remains to be seen how much Rondo will play because of the glut of guards on the roster, but his savvy and basketball IQ should only help L.A. going forward.
Rajon Rondo not worried about playing time
Winning a championship is the sole focus for the Lakers and to that vein, Rondo came out and said that playing time does not matter.
“Going forward this year looking at the Lakers team and the roster and understanding where I am in my career but at the same time, I do believe I can still bring a lot to the game. My main focus is we win, nothing else matters.”
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