Rondo to come off bench in season debut vs. Suns

Los Angeles Lakers point guard Rajon Rondo will make his season debut Tuesday against the Phoenix Suns, head coach Frank Vogel said, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

Rondo will come off the bench and be limited to just 15 minutes Tuesday, and he won't play Wednesday against the Golden State Warriors, Vogel added, according to McMenamin.

The 33-year-old has missed the first nine games of the campaign with a calf strain he suffered during the preseason.

Rondo was on course to appear in his first game of the year Sunday against the defending champions Toronto Raptors, though he opted instead to work on his endurance with a practice session that day, according to Yahoo Sports' Chris Haynes.

The four-time All-Star said Monday that he was told his calf strain was similar to the one suffered by Kevin Durant during the playoffs, according to Tania Ganguli of the Los Angeles Times. Durant attempted to return ahead of schedule for the NBA Finals and ended up tearing his Achilles in his first game back.