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Just like many of the rest of us, Rajon Rondo may have given up on the Boston Celtics. After the major trade that sent future Hall of Famers Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to the Brooklyn Nets, the Celtics have lost all of the excitement they once had. Of course, their team also went from potential championship contenders to a team rebuilding. Rondo, who started the season on the sidelines after recovering from knee surgery, was left with a very, very young team and a first year head coach.
While he still recovers and does not play in back to back games still. While on a West Coast road trip, the Celtics were headed to Sacramento to play the Kings. While, he and the Celtics knew he would not play, Rondo decided to stay in Los Angeles to celebrate his birthday with family and friends. This was routinely done when Doc Rivers was the head coach and he would give the veterans days off. They were not required to show up to the arena on game day.
Boston Herald reporter Steve Bulpett reported, “The Celtics are not taking it as a major issue, but the team is still hoping to straighten things out with Rajon Rondo after his decision to stay in Los Angeles and not accompany the team to Sacramento for Saturday’s game.While some were displeased by the move, for which Rondo did not receive official permission, others pointed out he was not scheduled to play in the game anyway (on the second night of a back-to-back), and that he may have simply been making some assumptions based on precedent. Multiple sources say he remained in LA for a birthday celebration.”
It is unlikely Rondo will face any real discipline, but it just looks bad on his part. Once the veterans left, he automatically became the leader of the team whether he liked it or not and right now he is not leading by example. If there were any serious rifts between Rondo and management, he would have likely been traded by the deadline, but since he was not, the team obviously has a plan with the point guard.
