Rajon Rondo was a crucial cog in the Lakers juggernaut which won the championship. His vacation photos from Maldives have received a ton of attention.
Rondo has a player option on his $2.96 million contract for next season. Given his performances in the playoffs, the veteran will be worth a lot more on the open market. The Lakers have his Bird rights, but this hamstrings them from offering $6 million.
A lot of teams will be competing for the wily veteran’s signature as he enters the 15th season of his NBA career. Lakers fans are, however, in no mood to let their prize bench player go easily. They pulled out all stops trying to recruit him on Twitter, and especially discourage him from joining crosstown rival Clippers.
Lakers fans spam Rondo’s vacation pics by trolling the Clippers
Lakers fans have gotten creative in their efforts to keep Rondo on their team. They’ve essentially painted such a grotesque picture of the franchise that one wouldn’t want to be associated with it.
The Clippers have been the butt of all NBA fans’ jokes following their epic meltdown against the Nuggets. Once tipped to be real challengers and clear favorites to face the Lakers in the Conference Finals, they blew double-digit leads in each of their final 3 playoff games. This happened despite the Clippers leading the series 3-1.
As a result, the Lakers had an easy path to the championship. By SRS, this is the 3rd easiest championship ever won.
There is no doubt that adding Rondo, a true playmaker, would set George and Leonard free and allow them to be more dominant as scorers. But one wonders whether the former All Star really wants to join the Lakers’ crosstown rivals.