Did Rajon Rondo Spit On Chris Paul? A Video Breakdown

Chris Paul and Rajon Rondo threw down on Saturday night at Staples Center. The two veteran guards have long disliked each other and that boiled over into a brawl during the Los Angeles Lakers’ home opener against the Houston Rockets.

Paul claims Rondo spit on him and that set off their fight. Did that actually happen? Well, we’re going to check the tape and break it down for you.

Here’s the full fight in case you missed it:

Obviously Brandon Ingram and James Harden had an issue, but things really got going when Paul and Rondo threw hands. You can’t tell much from that video, but here are some updates from after the game:

So one side says spit was involved, the other side claims it wasn’t.

Let’s go to the video:

OK, can’t really tell if there’s spit from there.

Let’s check another one:

Nah, no spit shot there.

But check this one out:

Alright that one had nothing to do with #SpitGate but it showed Floyd Mayweather being a jackass. It’s just important to me that you know that happened.

Now back to “Searching for Saliva”…

Here’s another look:

It appears Paul is reacting to something on his face, but it’s still unclear where it came from or if anything actually happened.

Let’s try this one:

In this video we get a longer look at the jawing between the two guys, but there is no obvious spit coming from Rondo’s mouth. He certainly doesn’t obviously launch something intentionally at Paul.

So at this point there are three reasonable conclusions:

1. There was no spit and Paul is looking for a way to justify putting his hands on Rondo and setting off the fight.

2. Sweat or saliva from Rondo hit Paul unintentionally.

3. There was a second spitter on the court Saturday night. Possibly off camera…stay with me here because a few of us have found a second suspect. Brace yourselves, it’s a doozy (friend of the site, Rob Perez has the complete breakdown below):

DUN, DUN, DUUUUUUUNNNNN! It’s Carmelo Anthony!

Melo launched the spit, Melo started the fight, Melo was the reason behind it all! What possible motive could he have had? Was it jealousy that the Lakers pursued LeBron James and not him this summer? Was he upset LeBron chose to surround himself with a ton of crazy, dysfunctional veterans and didn’t invite him along?

Now look, I’m not accusing Melo of doing it … but it almost makes too much sense, doesn’t it?

Oh, it doesn’t? Well, then Paul is probably just making it up.