The Los Angeles Lakers will be without Rajon Rondo for 6-8 weeks.
The Los Angeles Lakers safely traveled into the Orlando bubble with no hiccups other than Avery Bradley opting out for the health of his family (and more power to him). Laker fans exhaled knowing that their team was geared up and ready to win championship number 17.
Then an unforeseen hiccup occurred.
Rajon Rondo suffered a fractured right thumb and had surgery on his thumb on Wednesday. The timeline for Rondo to return to action is six to eight weeks, meaning that he does have enough time to rejoin the Lakers once they are in the playoffs.
When this news hit it was viewed as a big blow for the Los Angeles Lakers and the narrative begun. LeBron James stans started touting how much more difficult LeBron’s path to a title is, with Nick Wright even doing some ridiculous math to try and say that LeBron winning this year would tie him with Jordan with six rings (LeBron currently has three).
There were also the naysayers as well. Colin Cowherd was not hesitant in putting the nail in the Lakers’ title coffin, saying that the team is not a title contender as LeBron lost his two best defensive guards.
Side note: has Cowherd heard of Danny Green, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope or even Alex Caruso, who all have higher Defensive Win Shares than both Rondo and Bradley this season?
Both men are wrong. This championship pursuit did not suddenly become so much more grueling without Rajon Rondo and his injury realistically has absolutely no impact on the Los Angeles Lakers’ title hopes this season.
Why? Let’s break it down. There are three primary factors to consider.