Los Angeles Lakers guard Dennis Schroder was not particularly happy with Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo on Saturday afternoon.
Although the LeBron James injury and subsequent fallout stole the show, an odd exchange between Schroder and Rondo resulted in some bad blood between the two players.
In the third quarter, Rondo appeared to get irritated with Schroder.
Rondo, being Rondo, reacted in the most Rondo way imaginable.
Rondo got a tech for bumping Schröder’s face with the ball 🤨 pic.twitter.com/DDBGOxfHBs
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) March 20, 2021
Schroder was ultimately called for a personal foul, while Rondo received a technical foul.
Atlanta eventually ended up winning the game, 99-94.
Afterward, Schroder spoke out about what transpired between him and Rondo.
“I love competitors but that’s not competing,” he said. “… I’m going to leave it at that … That’s not basketball.”
Rondo is obviously no stranger to odd altercations. Neither is his girlfriend. And while people absolutely love it when he’s pulling that stuff on behalf of their favorite team, it can be grating when he is doing it against your favorite team.
It remains to be seen whether the league will ultimately step in and do anything about Rondo’s actions. Earlier this year, a player literally fractured the wrist of another and the NBA did nothing. Based on that precedent, it’s hard to see something as minor as this evoking any sort of real reaction.
In case you’re wondering why Deshaun Watson’s girlfriend Jilly Anais is trending. https://t.co/sl7sHwecbN
— Game 7 (@game7__) March 19, 2021
Related: Dennis Schroder Gets Very Blunt About Lakers Future
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
