After a Lakers loss to the Rockets in which Rajon Rondo, Brandon Ingram and Chris Paul were ejected, there is debate about what actually triggered the fight, and it remains to be seen if anyone will be suspended for the altercation.
Los Angeles — The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Houston Rockets in their home opener on Saturday night, but things got even uglier when a fight broke out between Brandon Ingram, Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo that resulted in the trio all being ejected from the game.
Lance Stephenson, who had been trying to keep Ingram away from the fracas before Ingram returned following Rondo’s punch to throw one of his own, said that he thought the Rockets might have been targeting Ingram.
”I think they was picking on him. That’s why I tried to grab him as quickly as possible and tell him ‘Don’t fall for the trick.’ And I guess we fell for it,” Stephenson said.
Stephenson felt that both teams should have also done a better job of keeping things from turning violent.
”I think our guys didn’t get there and push our players away. Both Rockets and the Lakers we should’ve just broke our players up,” Stephenson said, although he added that if Paul hadn’t provoked Rondo, things wouldn’t have escalated.
“I felt like he shouldn’t have put his hand in Rondo’s face. Because you hit somebody in the face, you know what’s going to happen after that,” Stephenson said.
LeBron James said that after everything went down, he was just focused on helping the Lakers recompose themselves and win the game.
“I just tried to calm things down, that’s all,” James said.
The team ultimately couldn’t pull out the victory and now may lose two of their key players, but not everyone on the team thought the fight was a complete negative.
“I’d rather see a guy with some fight in him,” said Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma.
Lakers head coach Luke Walton didn’t quite go that far, calling the incident “unfortunate,” but he also said he didn’t see the actual fight, saying he was drawing up a play at the time because he thought the referees had things under control.
Still, Walton thought things had crossed a line a few moments earlier, when Rockets forward James Ennis clotheslined Josh Hart on a fast break and was hit with a Flagrant One foul, allowing him to stay in the game.
“I have zero idea how that’s a flagrant one,” Walton said.
And while it’s unclear what the penalties will be to Ingram, Rondo or Paul — and the Lakers can scarcely afford to lose either of their players — Walton also said that he’s seen altercations like this one galvanize a team.
“It has before. I will hope it will have that impact on our guys,” Walton said.
Or at least those that are left after whatever inevitable penalties for the brouhaha are handed down.