Report: Rajon Rondo Could Join Lakers Coaching Staff

May 29, 2024

According to NBA reporter Dan Woike of The Los Angeles Times, Rajon Rondo could join the Los Angeles Lakers coaching staff.

Rondo played 112 games for the Lakers and helped the franchise win the 2020 championship. The four-time All-Star has a strong rapport with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers are widely expected to hire JJ Redick as their new head coach.

“Ex-Lakers guard Rajon Rondo has also been under consideration, according to people with knowledge of the situation not authorized to speak publicly,” Woike wrote.

After the Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors in April, LeBron praised Rondo after Rondo announced his retirement from the NBA.

“One of the best players I ever played with,” LeBron said about Rondo. “Obviously his IQ was out of this world and I was very lucky to get to team up with him at that point here when I was in LA.”

Rondo made four All-Star teams, four All-Defensive teams and one All-NBA team. He won three assist titles, one steals title and two championships.

Rondo is 15th in NBA history in assists, 49th in steals, 17th in assists per game and 16th in triple-doubles.

Rondo helped the Celtics win the 2008 championship over the Lakers. He then helped the Lakers win the 2020 title over the Miami Heat at the Walt Disney World bubble.

The Lakers are expected to hire Redick after the 2024 NBA Finals. Redick will call the Finals for ESPN with Mike Breen and Doris Burke.

According to NBA reporters Shams Charania and Jovan Buha of The Athletic, the Lakers are “infatuated” with Redick’s potential, viewing the former guard as a Pat Riley-like coaching prospect.

Redick and James co-host the “Mind The Game” podcast.

“Leaguewide, Redick — a former player and media analyst — has garnered buzz for the position,” Buha and Charania wrote. “The Lakers are infatuated with Redick’s potential, according to league sources, viewing him as a Pat Riley-like coaching prospect who could both help the franchise in the short term and lead it for years. Riley, a nine-year NBA veteran as a player, was a broadcaster for the Lakers from 1977 to 1979 before making the leap to assistant coach in 1979 and then eventually head coach in 1981.”