The Lakers have been relatively fortunate so far this season with injuries, or a lack thereof, but tonight, we learned that Rajon Rondo will be out for up to four weeks with a broken hand, as reported by Shams Charania.
Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Lakers guard Rajon Rondo is expected to miss up to four weeks with a broken right hand.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 15, 2018
According to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN, Rondo fractured the third metatarsal in his right hand and could go into surgery as soon as Thursday.
Rondo apparently suffered the injury while attempting to steal from Jusuf Nurkic the ball during Wednesday night’s game against the Portland Trailblazers. Luke Walton confirmed the injury to reporters after the game.
Rajon Rondo broke his hand, Luke Walton says. He’ll be out a few weeks.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) November 15, 2018
Here’s our Dr. Kendrew (not really a doctor but he’s the closest we got) on the rehab process that will be starting for Rondo:
The bone that Rajon Rondo broke (the third metacarpal) is essentially the bone that connects your finger to your wrist. Any sort of bone break is kind of the preferred injury (of course your preference is no injury) as long as there are no issues with the nerve or blood supply being affected by the bone break, especially with a bone that does not perform much weight bearing like a bone in the hand. Anything musculotendinous or ligamentous is much more problematic. The main thing with bone healing is to wait for the site to heal and start to load the bone to get adjusted to the force that gets exerted on it. With a few weeks of rehabilitation, Rondo will be back out there in the projected four weeks.
The journeyman guard has started two of the 10 games that he has played this season after being suspended for a physical altercation with Chris Paul during the Lakers second game of the season. An injury of this magnitude would have decimated the Lakers team from last season, but now the team has more depth at point guard and will adjust accordingly to Rondo being out for a lengthy time.
This will be the first time that Rajon Rondo has missed significant playing time since his final two seasons in Boston. The 32-year-old veteran guard has stayed relatively healthy and productive since leaving the Celtics, and he has been a key member of the team so far this year. His production will be missed, but the Lakers have enough depth that they can survive without him for the time being. The Lakers are on a four-game winning streak after their 126-117 win over the Portland Trail Blazers, and look to continue this hot streak against the Orlando Magic on Saturday.
Sadly, that will have to be without Rondo.
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