Rajon Rondo will reportedly not be fined for sitting in courtside seat during game

Rajon Rondo’s decision to sit in a courtside seat — as opposed to the bench, where his teammates were — with the Los Angeles Lakers down double-digits to the Denver Nuggets caused quite the stir among Lakers fans.

Questions were raised about Rondo’s ability as a leader and whether his seat choice was indicative of a larger problem with the organization’s culture. While those might still be valid questions, the Lakers aren’t as concerned with it as others are.

According to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. the front office met with Rondo on Thursday and after speaking with the veteran point guard, they decided not to fine him. During that meeting, management reportedly informed Rondo that sitting with the crowd during a game is a violation of league rules, to which Rondo responded saying he was unaware.

What even is this season? Like, what are we actually doing here?

Going forward, Rondo told ESPN that he intends to sit where he’s supposed to, but he still doesn’t understand why certain people think it’s a big deal:

Rondo estimated he sat in a seat separate from the bench “eight, 10 times this year” when speaking to reporters after the game.

”I’ve done it (before),” he said. “I’ve sat everywhere but the bench more than 40 seconds. But I guess when things aren’t going well you can kind of continue to make up stories. But I never thought it was a big deal. I was just in my head contemplating the game. That’s kind of what I do. I don’t think I have to explain myself as far as my relationship with the team, the players and the coaches. That shouldn’t even be discussed.”

He also balked at any speculation that his decision had anything to do with Alex Caruso, who was called up from the G League earlier this week, eating into his playing time:

“I still don’t understand why we’re talking about it but we are,” Rondo said. “A.C. and those guys did a hell of a job playing. I broke down film for two hours last night. I mean, I don’t know what people want. After a loss, I’m still trying to figure it out. But it is what it is. People are going to say what they say.”

Instead, Rondo prefers that people redirect their energy to his teammate, LeBron James, who passed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list on Wednesday.

Now, I could take a step back and analyze this incredible spin by Rondo, or I could just enjoy the madness that has been this season like everyone else. Because the Lakers are now 6.5 games back of the eighth seed of the Western Conference and Rondo probably won’t be back with the team next season, I think I’ll do the latter.

For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts. You can follow Christian on Twitter at @RadRivas.