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.