1. He brings championship experience to the bench
While James, JaVale McGee and Green bring championship experience to the Lakers’ starting five, the relatively young bench unit lacks championship experience.
Quinn Cook won an NBA championship with Golden State in 2018, but he’s young and hasn’t played a ton so far in his career.
Part of the reason Rondo can and will bring stability and control to the bench unit as mentioned in the previous slide is that he’s been there and done that.
He won a world championship with the Celtics in 2008 against the Lakers, and likely learned at that young age the habits and mindset that bring that type of result.
He also played on a team that pulled one of the greatest choke jobs in NBA Finals history, coughing up a 13-point lead in the second half of Game 7 of the 2010 championship series, also against the Purple and Gold.
That means that Rondo knows what to do, and what not to do, when faced with pressure. Most of the Lakers’ other bench players don’t have that type of experience or resourcefulness.
That experience will come in handy down the road when the bench unit is faced with a growing deficit, or a shrinking lead, or another pressure-packed situation.