Rajon Rondo Reveals Why He Didn’t Enjoy Playing Video Games with Lakers Teammates

Winning an NBA Championship is a team effort, and the Los Angeles Lakers proved it last season. In their championship run, it was a complete team effort from the starters and bench players. Rajon Rondo established himself as a leader for the second unit and played a huge role in the Finals.

Despite his terrific playoff run with the organization, Rondo decided to move on and left them in the offseason. The former Laker appeared on the All the Smoke podcast, where he talked about why he refrained from playing video games with his teammates in the Orlando Bubble. He said:

“You know, I am not really a gamer. I started gaming with the guys, but we lost our first game and I was pissed and I can’t really focus on gaming anymore. I was kinda locked in with the game plan and understanding what we need to do to win and dominate the game.”

While gaming can be an incredible stress buster, it’s not for everyone. For a player like Rondo, who fulfills the role of a floor general, he needs to be 100% focused on basketball. Ultimately, this is what Rondo did and won the 2nd NBA ring of his career.

This season, he will be playing for the Hawks partnering up with Trae Young on the backcourt. But only time will tell if the veteran can bag another ring before retiring.

What’s next for the LA Lakers?

With Rajon Rondo gone, the Lakers decided to bring in Dennis Schroder to their roster. Although Schroder is not an elite playmaker, he can provide solid scoring from the bench, and this is exactly what the purple and gold need him to do.

LeBron James can work as the primary facilitator for the team and get the offense up and running. But getting 15+ points from Schroder will take the team’s offense up a notch.

Despite losing the season opener, the expectations for the Lakers are at an all-time high. Fans expect them to repeat last season’s success and bring in the championship #18 to Staples Center.