Rajon Rondo Wants To Return To The Lakers

To say that this season has been a disappointment for the Los Angeles Lakers is a profound understatement. They started the year as one of the NBA futures betting favorites to win the league championship. LeBron James had just been added to the mix and they expectation was that he’d make the young players around him highly competitive. Instead, the season has been an unmitigated disaster due to injuries, poor play and unrealistic expectations.

Amid the ‘dark clouds’ there have been a few ‘silver linings’. One has been the overall play on the court and leadership off the court of veteran guard Rajon Rondo. Most recently, he became the first Los Angeles Lakers player since Magic Johnson (1989) to register 17 assists and five steals in one game.

The 33 year old Rondo is on a one year deal worth $9 million but he says that he’d love to come back:

“Absolutely. Absolutely. I mean, the only way we can go from here is up. So, I don’t know what the future holds as far as the summer — if I come back, or who else comes back or if I don’t come back. Those things are out of my control. But at the same time, it’s a great organization. I can’t say enough about the staff and the people who work here. They’re really kind and helpful, so I want to continue, if I can, help this organization grow.”

The Lakers have won three of their last four games since they were eliminated from playoff contention last week. Head coach Luke Walton gives Rondo credit for serving as a great example for his younger teammates:

“His leadership has been great. He wants to play all the time. I think he sets a great example for the younger guys and he’s watching film before every game, during games. Off days he’s in the gym every day working on his craft, studying his opponent. … It’s great to have that around when you have as many young guys with their eyes on everything, learning from everything.”

Rondo has had his own challenges this year. Due to an on court altercation in the Lakers’ home opener he was suspended for three games. He also has suffered two hand injuries, one which required surgery. All told he’s missed 34 of the Lakers’ 76 games this year. Even with all of the adversity he’s remained a catalyst for the rest of the team according to LeBron James:

“The youth look up to us, look at us as superheroes at times, so to be able to have that fun and that joy we hope it goes back to those guys and to the kids that look up to us. Rondo, his energy and him just having fun and being the leader that he is [is invaluable].”

The Lakers have a tough schedule to finish up the regular season. After a road game against the hapless New Orleans Pelicans they travel to Oklahoma City to face the Thunder. They’ll return home for games against the Golden State Warriors, LA Clippers, Utah Jazz and Portland Trailblazers to close out the year.