Things are off to a rocky start in Dallas for Rajon Rondo
Rajon Rondo should be in a relatively great mood. After two of the superstars that helped him win his first NBA Championship in 2008 as a Celtic–Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett–left Boston for Brooklyn, and his coach Doc Rivers took a job with a much more promising Los Angeles Clippers team, Rondo’s Celtic future looked pretty bleak. He was surrounded with a couple decent role players, 1st and 2nd round draft picks, and a rookie head coach in Brad Stevens.
Just over a month ago, Rondo was traded to the Dallas Mavericks. Good-bye 10th place in the East, hello thick of the playoff race.
Judging by Rondo’s attitude as of late however, he doesn’t seem to be as happy as most would imagine. He was already benched for a few minutes by coach Rick Carlisle back in January, and this evening, things got very, very heated between the two former NBA Champions.
Carlisle called out for Rondo to call a timeout, and Rondo, completely oblivious to Carlisle’s half-court screams, casually dribbled the ball up-court. Naturally, Carlisle didn’t take this insubordination well, and he called out to the referee to call timeout himself. As Rondo made his way to the sideline, Carlisle can be seen–understandably besides himself–screaming at Rondo, presumably for Rondo to, as the announcers described it, “sit his butt down.”
Something tells us Carlisle’s terminology wasn’t nearly as PG-13. Hopefully these guys get on the same page very soon. If Dallas plays their cards right, they could finish the season as high as 3rd in the Western Conference standings, which is fathomable, considering as of tonight, they’re only 2 games behind the Rockets for that spot.
