Getty Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James.
The Los Angeles Lakers will boast a new-look roster for the upcoming NBA season, one headlined by a future Hall-of-Famer in LeBron James. After James signed with the Lakers this offseason, there’s been a few photos and videos of him with some of his new teammates.
But on Tuesday, as Bleacher Report revealed, a video emerged of LeBron putting in some on-court work with his fellow Lakers.
Showtime 2018 🔥
(via @Lakers)
This isn’t the first time we’ve seen the bulk of the Lakers’ new core practice together, but the previous video which came to light didn’t include James. Instead, it featured Rajon Rondo, a whole lot of Brandon Ingram and plenty of Lance Stephenson.
Understandably, this release included a focus on James, a look at another free-agent addition in JaVale McGee and quite a bit of second-year guard Josh Hart. One notable absence was Lonzo Ball, who is still rehabbing from arthroscopic knee surgery he underwent in July.
Lakers’ Plan for Starting Lineup
One hot-button topic surrounding the Lakers has been how they’ll opt to construct their starting lineup. Specifically, if it will be Ball or free-agent signing Rajon Rondo starting. Rondo made it known earlier this offseason that he’s less concerned about starting and more focused on winning a championship, as ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk revealed.
“They have me here to help win games, any way possible, whatever situation I might be in. That will be a big part of why we’re trying to get this thing done this year,” Rondo said Friday during a conference call with reporters after signing a one-year, $9 million deal with the Lakers. “They have plans, obviously me being here, along with other guys they’ve [brought] in, along with this great young core that we have.
“So I’m not so much caught up in the starting [job] and things like that. I’m just caught up in winning the championship.”
Along with that, the veteran guard spoke about how excited he is to work with Ball, per ESPN.
“From what I’ve seen, I’m excited to get a player that age and try to help him as much as I can, as far as understanding the game and getting his game up to speed as far as at a high level,” Rondo said. “Especially with the amount of pressure now that the organization has on him.
Time will tell, but who will start for the bulk of the 2018-19 season at point guard remains up in the air currently. Following Ball’s surgery, though, it seems realistic to expect Rondo gets the nod right out of the gate.
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