Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo remains adamant that he did not intentionally spit at Rockets point guard Chris Paul, leading to a brawl on Saturday night. Speaking with ESPN on Tuesday, Rondo pointed to the fact that he was wearing a mouthguard, which would impact his ability to intentionally spit on someone.
"This is the only time I'm going to address this," Rondo told ESPN on Tuesday. "I had a mouthpiece in my mouth and I was exasperated because I was about to tell him to 'get the [expletive] out of here.'
"Look at my body language [in the video]. My hands on my hips. I turn away for a second. Look at Eric [Gordon] and Melo [Carmelo Anthony] in the video. If they saw me spit, they would have turned their face up or something. They had no reaction."
Rondo was suspended for three games for his role in the brawl while teammate Brandon Ingram was issued a four-game ban. Chris Paul was only suspended for two games and will return to the Rockets' lineup for Friday night's game against the Clippers
"Of course, the NBA went with his side because I got three games and he got two," Rondo told ESPN. "Everyone wants to believe Chris Paul is a good guy. They don't know he's a horrible teammate. They don't know how he treats people. Look at what he did last year when he was in L.A.; trying to get to the Clippers' locker room. They don't want to believe he's capable of taunting and igniting an incident.
" ... He comes out and says I spit and the media sides with that."
Rondo and Ingram began serving their suspensions during Monday's overtime loss to the Spurs. The Lakers next play at Phoenix on Wednesday night, then home against Denver and at San Antonio.