Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo severely breaks his thumb in practice

Rajon Rondo (YouTube)

According to Tim Daniels of Bleacher Report on Sunday, Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo will be out the next six to eight weeks with a broken thumb he suffered in practice. Rondo, a 34-year-old native of Louisville, Kentucky, will require surgery.

In 48 games this season, Rondo was usually coming off the bench as he only had three starts. He averaged 7.1 points per game, five assists per game, and three rebounds per game. Rondo’s shooting percentage was .418, free throw percentage was .659, and his three-point percentage was .328.

Rondo spent the best seasons of his NBA career with the Boston Celtics. He won the NBA Finals with Boston in 2008, and was named an NBA All-Star for four straight seasons from 2010 to 2013.

In three NBA seasons, Rondo also led the NBA in assists per game. That happened in 2011-12 with the Celtics (11.7), 2012-13 with the Celtics (11.1), and in 2015-16, in his only season with the Sacramento Kings (11.7). Rondo also led the NBA in steals per game while with the Celtics in 2009-10 (2.3).

This was Rondo’s second season with the Lakers. He has also played for the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls and New Orleans Pelicans in his career.

Rondo’s job in Los Angeles was to be the top reserve point guard for the Lakers, and give Los Angeles valuable minutes when LeBron James, the face of the Lakers franchise, needed a rest. Now it appears that Alex Caruso of College Station, Texas, will make the transition from shooting guard to point guard. Caruso is averaging 5.4 points per game in 58 games this season.

The Lakers lead the Western Conference with a record of 49 wins and 14 losses. They also have a comfortable 5.5 game lead on the second-place Los Angeles Clippers.