The end of the Lakers and Rockets matchup on Saturday night in Los Angeles felt much more like a key playoff game than the second game of the season. The two teams were battling in a one-point contest late when things got chippy after Brandon Ingram was called for a foul on James Harden. Ingram shoved Harden and then got in the face of an official before being pulled away. In the meantime, Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo found themselves face-to-face, where Rondo may or may not have spit on Paul, who then shoved Rondo’s face leading to a left hook from Rondo connecting and Paul answering with a punch of his own — followed by a haymaker from Ingram running in. It was … a lot. The melee will almost assuredly lead to suspensions for the three major players involved, all of whom were ejected from the game. However, the altercation didn’t stop there and apparently wasn’t reserved for just the players. According to Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle and Shams Charania of The Athletic, a member of Rondo’s family confronted Paul’s wife, Jada, in the stands after the incident. Chris Paul was still so angry after the game, multiple individuals said, because a member of Rajon Rondo's family made "inappropriate" comments to Paul's wife, Jada, in the stands after the altercation. — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 21, 2018 Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Along with Chris Paul/Rajon Rondo altercation in Lakers-Rockets, one of Rondo’s family members confronted Paul’s wife, Jada. NBA investigating tonight’s on-court altercations ahead of Rockets/Clippers on Sunday. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2018 Chris was irate about this, shouting about it in the locker room afterward. https://t.co/8qbGRMFfBX — Sam Amick (@sam_amick) October 21, 2018 Paul was incensed when he learned of this after the game, as he was seen by our Martin Rickman and other members of the media leaving the Rockets locker room quickly, vaguely telling Mike D’Antoni someone “tried to run up on her.” As Charania notes in his tweet, the league will look into this allegation as well and there’s no telling if it will have any factor into discipline coming the way of Rondo or anyone else. The entire situation was ugly but isn’t terribly surprising given the history between Paul and Rondo, which dates back to early in Rondo’s career with the Celtics.<doc-sep>Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo and Houston Rockets guard Chris Paul were in the midst of an all-out brawl on Saturday night. Lakers rising young forward Brandon Ingram began the altercation after shoving Rockets superstar James Harden out of frustration. That led to Rondo getting into Paul’s face, and the two exchanging blows afterwards. Rajon Rondo swings on Chris Paul. Chaos has erupted in Staples. #Lakers #LakeShow pic.twitter.com/ugBaF6pl0d — Lakers Daily (@LakersDailyCom) October 21, 2018 According to sources from The Athletic, it seems that one of Rondo’s family members confronted Paul’s wife Jada after the game. Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Along with Chris Paul/Rajon Rondo altercation in Lakers-Rockets, one of Rondo’s family members confronted Paul’s wife, Jada. NBA investigating tonight’s on-court altercations ahead of Rockets/Clippers on Sunday. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2018 There are likely to be multiple-game suspensions for the punches thrown by Paul and Rondo. In addition, Ingram will be facing a minimum of a one-game suspension due to his initiating the entire brawl and his flying haymaker directed at Paul. The Lakers fell 0-2 on the season as they lost to the Rockets, 124-115. They’ll get a chance to rebound from this one on Monday night against the Spurs.<doc-sep>The Lakers-Rockets blood feud is spiraling out of control. According to NBA insider Shams Charania, a member of Rajon Rondo's family confronted Chris Paul's wife Jada after the game. The "unspecified" Rondo relative and Paul's wife are said to have engaged in an exchange of inappropriate comments and insults. The backlash inevitably got back to Chris Paul in a hurry. According to Houston Rockets beat writer Jonathan Feigen, Paul has grown more furious than he'd been on the court during the alleged "spitting incident." The NBA hopes to finalize their internal investigation before the Rockets face the Clippers tonight, again at the Staples Center. Mixed theories have emerged over the causal elements in the altercation. The NBA is basing their investigation around the assumption that Rondo spat on Chris Paul, but conversely, a theory exists that Carmelo Anthony is actually guilty of spitting on his own teammate, albeit accidentally. The Nevertheless a Rachel Nichols' video report makes it hard to argue against Rondo "being the spitter." Any way you frame the situation, the video evidence leaves a lot to be desired. LeBron James, seemingly stuck between a good friend (Chris Paul) and a teammate (Rajon Rondo) is kind of figurant in all of this. Carmelo, another central figure in LeBron's coterie, seems to have outgrown his combative ways, supplanted by Brandon Ingram as the young and restless one, in this here scenario.<doc-sep>
One of Rajon Rondo’s family members supposedly confronted Chris Paul’s wife, Jada, after the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets game Saturday at Staples Center, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. Paul was still visibly angry after the game upon learning that his wife was being berated in the stands, according to Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. Chris Paul was still so angry after the game, multiple individuals said, because a member of Rajon Rondo's family made "inappropriate" comments to Paul's wife, Jada, in the stands after the altercation. — Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) October 21, 2018 Sources on @TheAthleticNBA @WatchStadium: Along with Chris Paul/Rajon Rondo altercation in Lakers-Rockets, one of Rondo’s family members confronted Paul’s wife, Jada. NBA investigating tonight’s on-court altercations ahead of Rockets/Clippers on Sunday. — Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2018 It’s one thing for players to fight on the court, but the feud should never involve family members who are attending the game. That is crossing the line and putting people in harm’s way. We’ll likely have more information about what Rondo’s family member allegedly said to Paul’s wife later today, but this is a really ugly situation right now. Everyone in the league knows Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo don’t like each other, and it’s fine for the two players to be fiesty on the court. However, fighting, spitting, and taunting family members are three things that should never arise during an NBA game. After all, there are kids at the game. It’s supposed to be a family atmosphere. Chris Paul is claiming that Rajon Rondo spit at him, while Rondo and the Lakers are denying that occurred. What a crazy night at Staples Center.