Brandon Ingram and Rajon Rondo received fairly light suspensions for their involvement in the brawl that broke out Saturday night between the Lakers and Rockets, and ESPN's Jalen Rose thinks their easy punishment is due in part to LeBron's arrival in Los Angeles.
- Brandon Ingram, Rajon Rondo, and Chris Paul were all suspended for their part in the brawl that broke out at the end of Saturday night's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets.
- ESPN's Jalen Rose floated a theory on "Get Up!" that the suspensions were light, in part, to keep the Lakers competitive in the Western Conference and help LeBron James get to the playoffs.
- The Lakers are 0-2 to start the year, the worst start a LeBron-led team has had since 2004.
Saturday's game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets game broke out into a brawl in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.
The scuffle had three main actors - Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram of the Lakers, and Chris Paul of the Rockets, with others on the court working to de-escalate the situation.
On Monday, suspensions were doled out to all three players, with Ingram out for four games, Rondo for three, and Paul sitting out just two games, all without pay. Those punishments have been widely regarded as light compared to what many expected.
ESPN's Jalen Rose gave his reading of the situation on "Get Up!," and floated a theory that the league's light suspensions for Rondo and Ingram were made in the interest of keeping the Lakers competitive in their first season with LeBron James.
"I think Adam Silver is the best commissioner in professional sports, but I don't think he got this punishment correct," Rose said of the suspensions. "In my opinion, Bradon Ingram should have gotten 15 games, Rajon Rondo should have gotten ten games, Chris Paul should have gotten the two that he was initially given."
As Rose further analyzed the length of the suspensions, he mentioned that they were somewhat curious, noting that some more conspiratorially-minded basketball fans might be suspicious of the relatively easy punishments on Ingram and Rondo.
"Now, looking through my phone and talking to a lot of people in NBA circles, there's going to be conspiracy theorists, that say, 'Hey! The league probably didn't want to bury the Los Angeles Lakers with long suspensions. It's a storied franchise. An iconic player joined their squad. They're in a tough Western Conference.' If you give larger suspensions, say these conspiracy theorists, it may bury a team in that conference, and hamper their ability to make the playoffs."
You can watch Rose make the case below.
While Rose doesn't provide any hard evidence that there might be a conspiracy afoot, it's not tough to imagine that the league is interested in keeping the Lakers as competitive as possible and making the postseason.
The league released a statement that lays out why each player was suspended, but it does not explain the length of each player's suspension.
"Ingram has been suspended for aggressively returning to and escalating the altercation and throwing a punch in the direction of Paul, confronting a game official in a hostile manner, and instigating the overall incident by shoving Rockets guard James Harden," the league said in a statement. "Rondo has been suspended for instigating a physical altercation with, and spitting and throwing multiple punches at, Paul. Paul has been suspended for poking at and making contact with the face of Rondo, and throwing multiple punches at him."
James has made the NBA Finals for eight consecutive years but faces a new, much more daunting challenge in the Western Conference. In a tight race down the stretch, there's no telling how significant a single loss back in October might be in retrospect.
The Lakers are 0-2 to start the season, James' worst start since 2004. They'll go for their first win on Monday night as they host the San Antonio Spurs.