When Rajon Rondo left the Los Angeles Lakers after the 2019-20 season, a lot of gamesmanship and IQ d left with him. All championship season long, fans pined for Rondo to be more effective. However, at the right time, his shooting and defense picked up. Now he’s returned and they are hoping for the same, but in a much smaller role.
Rajon Rondo isn’t expected to play near as big of a role as he did in his first Lakers tenure. Head Coach Frank Vogel has tipped his hand in this direction. During an interview with Spectrum SportsNet on their “Lakeshow” podcast, he went into some detail about it:
“For you guys (the media)? I don’t know who’s going to pick up the slack Dudz brought to the table for you guys, but internally, we’ve got some guys… I think Rondo coming back can be a real positive voice from a guy who’s not going to play as much but can really impact our team with his leadership.”
Rondo is the definition of a perfect player-coach. His experience and intelligence are the exact assets that a championship team needs. He’s capable of being a bridge between the stars, role players, and coaching staff. Rondo is a guy that loves the nuance of basketball. It’s something that didn’t take years for him to acquire. He was born with it. Hopefully that will rub off on the likes of Talen Horton-Tucker, Malik Monk, and Kendrick Nunn. The young players are the future, and that makes Rondo’s specified role that much more important.
