Rajon Rondo's brother ejected from NBA-Disney bubble for heckling Russell Westbrook

In the fourth quarter of the game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, William Rondo, the brother of Lakers veteran point guard Rajon Rondo, got into a heated verbal exchange with Rockets superstar Russell Westbrook. Security asked William to leave the venue.

The incident happened while LeBron James was taking a free throw. Westbrook approached the Lakers' family area and told him to "shut his mouth." It was not clear what William Rondo said initially. The Lakers were ahead 23 points at this time.

According to CBS Sports, there are an NBA policies in place for fans (family members and other personnel invited to the bubble), which are meant to control their conduct while watching games in the NBA bubble.

NBA players have been allowed to invite a limited number of family members and close friends to join them in the bubble since the start of the second round of the playoffs.

The Lakers' win officially eliminated the Rockets from this season, so there's no sense suspending Westbrook under the NBA's zero-tolerance policy. It is unclear if league officials will penalize Westbrook further for the incident.

It is not the first time Westbrook had a heated exchange with fans. Back in 2019, while playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder, Westbrook got in another verbal altercation with a Utah Jazz fan. The fan was banned from watching any Utah Jazz games while Westbrook was fined $25,000.

The Lakers will advance to the Western Conference Finals, waiting for the winner between the Los Angeles Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. The second-seeded Clippers are ahead in the series 3-2. The Clippers will try to win the series on Game 6, this coming Wednesday.

Last week, Rockets forward Danuel House was also ejected from the NBA-Disney bubble for violating health and safety protocols. According to a league statement last Friday, House was found guilty of bringing a "guest" inside the bubble without going through standard quarantine procedures.