It's my understanding that if I'm using Classic RenderMode, I should get the Sprite Icons on the pushbutton, if I use LightWeight rendering I should get the Kendo css images, with that being said, this took some digging to get it to this simple of an example, with the RadButton ID="btnRadButton" the icons will show the sprite image and the css image for both Classic and LightWeight rendering. If you take the RadButton ID="btnRadButton" off the page, or set visible="false", you'll get the css images only.
Using 2020.1.114.45 Upgraded to 2020.1.219.45 same issue with the latest version
<%@ Page Language="vb" AutoEventWireup="false" CodeBehind="Default.aspx.vb" Inherits="Test._Default" %>
<%@ Register Assembly="Telerik.Web.UI" Namespace="Telerik.Web.UI" TagPrefix="telerik" %>
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head runat="server">
<title></title>
</head>
<body>
<form id="form1" runat="server">
<telerik:RadScriptManager ID="RadScriptManager1" runat="server" EnableScriptCombine="True">
</telerik:RadScriptManager>
<telerik:RadButton ID="btnRadButton" runat="server" Text="My Button" RenderMode="Classic"
AutoPostBack="false" >
</telerik:RadButton>
<h1>Classic</h1>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="btnOK" runat="server" Text="OK Classic" RenderMode="Classic" >
<Icon CssClass="rbOk" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="btnSearch" runat="server" Text="Search Classic" RenderMode="Classic">
<Icon CssClass="rbSearch" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="btnCancel" runat="server" Text="Cancel Classic" RenderMode="Classic">
<Icon CssClass="rbCancel" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
<h1>Lightweight</h1>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="RadPushButton1" runat="server" Text="OK Classic" RenderMode="Lightweight" >
<Icon CssClass="rbOk" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="RadPushButton2" runat="server" Text="Search Classic" RenderMode="Lightweight">
<Icon CssClass="rbSearch" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
<telerik:RadPushButton ID="RadPushButton3" runat="server" Text="Cancel Classic" RenderMode="Lightweight">
<Icon CssClass="rbCancel" Top="6px" />
</telerik:RadPushButton>
</form>
</body>
</html>