Rajon Rondo skips Celtics trip to Sacramento without permission, may face team discipline Rajon Rondo hasn’t been playing in second games of back-to-backs for the Celtics, as he continues to gain strength after missing most of last season and the first part of this one with a knee injury. That little detail, along with the fact that friends and family were in Los Angeles to celebrate his birthday has Rondo in some trouble with the team for skipping out on the trip to Sacramento that followed Boston’s loss to the Lakers on Friday. From Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald: 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. He turned 28 on Saturday. … “I plan on talking to Rondo when he gets back into town,” [Celtics president Danny Ainge] told the Herald. “I’ll find out more about what went into it, and then we’ll handle it internally. We handle all of those kind of issues internally.” In a way, former Celtics head coach Doc Rivers can be blamed for Rondo’s minor misstep. Rivers started this nonsense when he had veterans like Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett out with injury, and didn’t require them to come to the arena on game days. It may have worked for an established head coach who was once a former player, and who had a veteran, championship-contending roster to deal with. But Brad Stevens is in his first year as Celtics head coach, and with such a young team in place that’s trying to learn how to be part of a winning culture, Rondo’s presence would be a benefit in establishing that environment while leading by example. At the very least, Rondo should have known better, and should have communicated his plans to the team so that this never became an issue.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Feb 2014 17:39:12 +0000