Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook's Beef Appears Over as the Two Become Teammates

It appears the beef between Rajon Rondo and Russell Westbrook is behind them.

At least in Rondo's mind. The newly signed Los Angeles Lakers point guard is back in the purple and gold for a second stint, after spending last season in the same city with the Clippers.

In his introductory press conference on Aug. 31, Rondo, 35, outlined who he's excited to play with who was not on the team in 2019-2020.

“Carmelo (Anthony), obviously Russ (Westbrook), I just talked to Trev (Ariza),” Rondo said. “I’m looking forward to talking to Trev, learning his mind and his focus. Trev beat me a couple years back in the ’10 finals, so we had a lot of great battles.”

The big name there is Westbrook, who Rondo had history with in the past. The beef started during the pandemic era playoffs in 2020 in Game 5 of the Western Conference Semifinals.

Rondo's brother, William, was sitting court-side when he called Westbrook "trash." William then waved goodbye at Westbrook as the game reached its late stages. The incident was addressed by both after the game, with Rondo coming to the defense of his brother.

"He didn’t do anything crazy," Rondo said. “He called the man ‘trash.’ Fans do what fans do. He’s my brother first. He didn’t do anything disrespectful.”

Westbrook saw it in another light and said that William crossed the line of being a fan at the game.

Despite the history, Rondo said he is focused on putting things aside to help the Lakers win championship No. 18.

“A lot of these guys are now teammates," Rondo said. "I’m looking forward to putting everything in the past and putting it together for the greater good of the team and win a championship here."