What the Hell Are the Lakers Doing?

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When news broke late Sunday night that LeBron James would become LAbron it seemed that it was gonna be a hottttt summer in La La Land. Since acquiring the big kahuna, the Lakers have made move after move that has left me scratching my head. It’s no secret that James is about as close as it gets to a player-coach in this day and age (Arena Football not withstanding) so seeing LA add guys like Rajon Rondo and Lance Stephenson feels like we’re mixing oil and water.

The James/Stephenson relationship is well documented back to James’ Miami nights. From ear blowing to straight shit talk, it seemed that Stephenson’s purpose in life was to piss James off, succeeding even in team defeat. How much of that was ‘my team vs. your team’ compared to general dislike, we may not know until a tough midseason stretch…if ever. What we do know is Stephenson will bring that junk yard dog mentality to a team missing that dynamic. Not a scorer, except in flashes, he isn’t going to bring much on the offensive side. He certainly won’t account for consistent jump shooting which James usually looks for in teammates.

What Stephenson does have going for him is the playoff grit that we see out of him year after year. Across the board, his stats improving in the playoffs vs. the regular season is a plus in my book. I don’t know, y’all. At best, these two on the same squad will be funny, but at worst it’s gonna be a shit show.

Like Stephenson, Rondo and James have history of playoff beef. That dates back to the Miami-Boston series we were blessed with over the years. These two never had serious extra curricular fireworks, but always chatting and battling on the court. What makes Rondo a puzzling choice for LeBron support is the fact that the guy is about as allergic to shooting as a point guard gets.

Seriously, I have zero memories of Rondo ever putting a shot up.

RR is a guy that plays with the ball in his hand and facilitates which is the same game James plays. The lack of shooting ability plus the notorious attitude that Rondo carries has me dissecting this move like it’s 7th grade science class again. I mean James has a record of taking on some attitude cases (*cough cough* JR Smith), but those cases brought much better shooting than what Rondo will bring.

JaVale McGee is a 2x NBA Champion and I find him to be hilarious. This was an A+ move in my book that will pay dividends for roughly nine to twelve minutes a game.

So, what does all this mean?

Probably not much, as the Lakers are still maybe possibly trying to pry Kawhi Leonard away from San Antonio. They could still get a few guys on discount, too. As of now, a starting five of Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, James, Kyle Kuzma and McGee with Rondo and Stephenson as reserves probably isn’t knocking out a Golden State team that just added Boogie Cousins. Probably not even a Houston team that was one win away from the Finals last year. Buuuuut all eyes are back on the Lake Show, which is exactly what Magic Johnson wanted.

John Mosley is the independent wrestling and TV aficionado of the SoBros Network. He graduated from ETSU with a degree in Radio, TV and Film along with a minor in Film Studies. Since graduating he’s done pretty much nothing but watch, film, edit or commentate for local wrestling promotions and is the current color commentator for Resolute Wrestling. #Preds #Titans #DefendOrVacateConor – Follow on Twitter: @SoBroMose

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