Lakers News: Rajon Rondo Played Through Back Pain After All-Star Break

Ron Gutterman
2 Min Read
Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The Los Angeles Lakers have been absolutely plagued with injuries all season long, and one of the prime examples of it has been Rajon Rondo. Entering Friday, he has played in just 27 of the Lakers’ 61 games due to two separate hand surgeries.

In the last couple games, Rondo has simply looked slow, out of sorts, and just horrible defensively. Rondo was never an elite defender, but he was especially bad in back-to-back losses to the New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies.

Despite this, he was moved into the starting lineup, which came after a serious conversation with head coach Luke Walton.

After setting a season high with 16 assists, Rondo revealed he had been playing through back discomfort coming out of the All-Star break, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN:

He said he had been suffering from back pain for about four days, and he had difficulty getting out of bed. “I think I slept on a bad bed in Jamaica,” Rondo told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne about what slowed the veteran point guard down the past few games.

Although having serious back pain might be enough to bench somebody for a little bit of time, with Lonzo Ball already out indefinitely, the Lakers cannot afford to lose Rondo. Having a rotation that includes not one true point guard would likely cause serious issues for the team.

Rondo, with the move back into the starting lineup, could be completely fine now, meaning his defense will return to an acceptable level. If that is the case, then the Lakers may stick with their new small-ball starting lineup of Rondo, Brandon Ingram, Reggie Bullock, LeBron James and Kyle Kuzma.

Reminder: Vivid Seats is the Official Ticket Reseller of LakersNation.com. New Customers use “LAKERSNATION” (all CAPS) in the Vivid Seats App on your phone and get 10% off any Lakers home game ticket order for the remainder of the season.

Ron Gutterman is a Washington State University alum from Anaheim, California, and is currently a Staff Writer for LakersNation.com, RamsNewsWire.com, and RaidersNewsWire.com. He is also the lead editor for AngelsNation.com. With Lakers Nation, Rams News Wire, Raiders News Wire, and Angels Nation, Ron assists in news, game coverage, analysis, and hot takes via his Twitter account, @rongutterman24. Without a doubt, Ron's favorite Laker, and favorite athlete of all time, is Kobe Bryant. Ron began watching basketball when he was 6 years old, in 2005, when Bryant was dragging the likes of Smush Parker and Ronny Turiaf to playoff spots. Ron's all time favorite Lakers moment was Bryant's final game when he dropped 60 points. While the Lakers beating the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, as Metta World Peace hit the game clinching three, will always be a top option, Bryant's final night takes the cake. Contact: ron@mediumlargela.com
Exit mobile version