One of the reasons why Dennis Schroder has endeared himself to Los Angeles Lakers fans in his first season with the team is the edge and fire he brings on a nightly basis.
Schroder has a reputation for being an irritant and a pest and often times will find himself in tense situations with opposing players. The Lakers have fed off of the guard’s energy, normally using his competitive spirit to fuel them on both ends of the court.
Los Angeles was starting to let their game against the Atlanta Hawks slip away on Saturday afternoon, so Schroder did his best to galvanize the team by picking up Rajon Rondo full court. Rondo did not seem to take kindly to Schroder playing up on him, so he shoved him and drew a foul from the officials. After the play, Rondo was called for a technical after he bumped the ball in Schroder’s face.
Schroder did not seem happy with the incident postgame. “I love competitors who really try to compete against me on the court. But that’s not competing no more, and I’m gonna leave it at that. It’s fine, but that’s not competing. I’m gonna leave it at that and we’ll just keep it going. That’s not basketball.”
As Lakers fans know, Rondo is another player who is notorious for getting under other players’ skins, but his actions against Schroder were completely unnecessary as the latter was well within his rights as a defender. The technical foul that was called was completely warranted and it was fortunate that things ended there before an altercation broke out.
Schroder has proven that no matter what the score is, he will come out and play with 100% energy on every possession and that can not be understated on a veteran-laden team like the Lakers. Head coach Frank Vogel has spoken about Schroder’s importance to L.A. and it is those traits he outlined that should make it an easy decision to keep him in Purple and Gold for the long haul.
Lakers front office walking tight rope with Schroder’s contract extension
The front office was rebuffed in their first attempt to sign Schroder to an extension, but he appears comfortable in playing the long game. The Lakers are able to offer the point guard more money and years, but talks have seemingly not progressed much as the two sides try to work on a deal.
Rob Pelinka and his staff may be waiting to see how Schroder performs in the playoffs before committing major money to him. It is a risky gamble, so it will be interesting to see how the situation plays out.
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