Rondo's "image"

[rondoallaturca]

It seems like a driving force behind Rondo trade talks is that he has character issues. Exactly what though?

I'll start with arguably the biggest slap to his image: Ray Allen. Supposedly, Rondo could not get along with Allen and Rondo was the reason Allen left Boston. This is the same drama queen that tried to throw Doc, Pierce, KG, management, and virtually everyone else under the bus when he left. The same guy whose ego made him feel resentment towards Rondo because he thought Rondo passed the ball to other teammates more than him. The same whiny veteran who disliked Rondo's quick ascension since it meant that Rondo could actually have a say in things rather than being Allen's unquestionable underling.

Next, addressing a more recent "rift": Doc Rivers. Of course, Doc usually undermines things because he doesn't want to cause a huge media frenzy. However, this offseason wasn't the characteristic Doc Rivers offseason. He let a ridiculous will-stay-won't-stay decision into a nationwide debate, and even got into a spat with Bill Simmons of all people. Despite all this, Doc continued to maintain that Rondo was one of his favorite players to coach, and has unparalled smarts on the court.

Those same smarts seem to get some people thinking that Rondo tunes everybody out because he thinks he knows everything. That's absolutely bogus. Sure, Rondo is resilient, but he's not a defector. I've never heard once of any issues between Doc and Rondo because Rondo showed him up and chose to run something differently.

Another issue with the "hard to coach" label... Rondo's HS coach loves him. Tubby Smith loves him. And like I just noted, Doc and Rondo have had differences, but they've always been able to learn from each other's perspectives and move on with a enlightened basketball mind. Honestly, what coach wouldn't want to have him? Brad Stevens has already expressed bounds of excitement at the idea of coaching Rondo.

What about the whole "bad teammate" deal? Really, outside of Allen, what other cases are there? There was Brandon Bass's "shut the #@$! up" his first season with Rondo, but that was quickly brushed off. Otherwise, I've only heard good things about Rondo as a teammate. He got the whole team together in LA last year to get a head start on workouts. Young players always seem him as a great mentor. Bradley said that Rondo was one of the main reasons that allowed him to go from potential bust to defensive ace. Hell, Rondo is willing to get ejected and smash his assist streak for the sake of defending his teammates.

That brings up another good point. Rondo is way too combustible on the court. He's confronted Humphries. He's confronted DMC. He's confronted CP3. There's absolutely no one Rondo won't back down to. But again, outside of Humphries, has Rondo ever done anything serious enough to warrant an ejection? Every other time it's simply ended up in a technical - and Rondo has never ever even approached being a league leader in technical fouls. Looking at ESPN, the highest he's ever gotten was tied for 12th place in the 11-12 season with 8 technical fouls.

But that brings us to yet another point. Rondo's only been ejected once for skirmishing, but he's got a lot more ejections under his belt because of conflicts with the officials. He was tossed for throwing a ball at a ref, and he was tossed for bumping Marc Davis. Honestly, this is finally something that I can acknowledge as a legitimate stain to his image. But honestly, let's not forget that Marc Davis is the same referee who has shown some extreme anti-Celtics bias in recent years, who has issued technicals for high-fiving, and even ejected a fan for getting too close to him. I'm not using that as an excuse for Rondo, but I for one would have a tough time simply letting those facts slide.

So really, I ask, is Rondo's perceived character issues truly compelling enough to be a reason to trade him? For me, considering the only legitimate issues are two run-ins with the officials, I hardly think so. Ironically, DMC is a popular trade target here, and he's many times the headcase Rondo is, IMO.

[lightspeed5]

its all fabricated. he's a shy kid, and he seems like has has good motive. all his documented arguments were for basketball reasons, not irrational outbursts of character issues.

I think its all made up. Rondo  asserts himself as a floor leader during play. Im sure he yells at people to get into position, but that's just basketball reasons, not quite a character issue. I take pride in knowing my pg is emotionally affected by other players not in position

[butterbeanlove]

It seems like a driving force behind Rondo trade talks is that he has character issues. Exactly what though?

I'll start with arguably the biggest slap to his image: Ray Allen. Supposedly, Rondo could not get along with Allen and Rondo was the reason Allen left Boston. This is the same drama queen that tried to throw Doc, Pierce, KG, management, and virtually everyone else under the bus when he left. The same guy whose ego made him feel resentment towards Rondo because he thought Rondo passed the ball to other teammates more than him. The same whiny veteran who disliked Rondo's quick ascension since it meant that Rondo could actually have a say in things rather than being Allen's unquestionable underling.

Next, addressing a more recent "rift": Doc Rivers. Of course, Doc usually undermines things because he doesn't want to cause a huge media frenzy. However, this offseason wasn't the characteristic Doc Rivers offseason. He let a ridiculous will-stay-won't-stay decision into a nationwide debate, and even got into a spat with Bill Simmons of all people. Despite all this, Doc continued to maintain that Rondo was one of his favorite players to coach, and has unparalled smarts on the court.

Those same smarts seem to get some people thinking that Rondo tunes everybody out because he thinks he knows everything. That's absolutely bogus. Sure, Rondo is resilient, but he's not a defector. I've never heard once of any issues between Doc and Rondo because Rondo showed him up and chose to run something differently.

Another issue with the "hard to coach" label... Rondo's HS coach loves him. Tubby Smith loves him. And like I just noted, Doc and Rondo have had differences, but they've always been able to learn from each other's perspectives and move on with a enlightened basketball mind. Honestly, what coach wouldn't want to have him? Brad Stevens has already expressed bounds of excitement at the idea of coaching Rondo.

What about the whole "bad teammate" deal? Really, outside of Allen, what other cases are there? There was Brandon Bass's "shut the #@$! up" his first season with Rondo, but that was quickly brushed off. Otherwise, I've only heard good things about Rondo as a teammate. He got the whole team together in LA last year to get a head start on workouts. Young players always seem him as a great mentor. Bradley said that Rondo was one of the main reasons that allowed him to go from potential bust to defensive ace. Hell, Rondo is willing to get ejected and smash his assist streak for the sake of defending his teammates.

That brings up another good point. Rondo is way too combustible on the court. He's confronted Humphries. He's confronted DMC. He's confronted CP3. There's absolutely no one Rondo won't back down to. But again, outside of Humphries, has Rondo ever done anything serious enough to warrant an ejection? Every other time it's simply ended up in a technical - and Rondo has never ever even approached being a league leader in technical fouls. Looking at ESPN, the highest he's ever gotten was tied for 12th place in the 11-12 season with 8 technical fouls.

But that brings us to yet another point. Rondo's only been ejected once for skirmishing, but he's got a lot more ejections under his belt because of conflicts with the officials. He was tossed for throwing a ball at a ref, and he was tossed for bumping Marc Davis. Honestly, this is finally something that I can acknowledge as a legitimate stain to his image. But honestly, let's not forget that Marc Davis is the same referee who has shown some extreme anti-Celtics bias in recent years, who has issued technicals for high-fiving, and even ejected a fan for getting too close to him. I'm not using that as an excuse for Rondo, but I for one would have a tough time simply letting those facts slide.

So really, I ask, is Rondo's perceived character issues truly compelling enough to be a reason to trade him? For me, considering the only legitimate issues are two run-ins with the officials, I hardly think so. Ironically, DMC is a popular trade target here, and he's many times the headcase Rondo is, IMO.

The media - particularly the beat writers who deal with him on a day to day basis - gave Doc a huge pass because he catered to them. Likewise, certain reporters don't like Rondo because he can't be bothered.

The truth is somewhere in between with both of them. Hard to label Rondo a punk unless you're a sports radio hack trying to pump up ratings among the metamucil demographic.

And I get the feeling that Doc would rather have hit the links than break down tape - but that was never a talking point on the radio.

[GreenEnvy]

It seems like a driving force behind Rondo trade talks is that he has character issues. Exactly what though?

I'll start with arguably the biggest slap to his image: Ray Allen. Supposedly, Rondo could not get along with Allen and Rondo was the reason Allen left Boston. This is the same drama queen that tried to throw Doc, Pierce, KG, management, and virtually everyone else under the bus when he left. The same guy whose ego made him feel resentment towards Rondo because he thought Rondo passed the ball to other teammates more than him. The same whiny veteran who disliked Rondo's quick ascension since it meant that Rondo could actually have a say in things rather than being Allen's unquestionable underling.

Next, addressing a more recent "rift": Doc Rivers. Of course, Doc usually undermines things because he doesn't want to cause a huge media frenzy. However, this offseason wasn't the characteristic Doc Rivers offseason. He let a ridiculous will-stay-won't-stay decision into a nationwide debate, and even got into a spat with Bill Simmons of all people. Despite all this, Doc continued to maintain that Rondo was one of his favorite players to coach, and has unparalled smarts on the court.

Those same smarts seem to get some people thinking that Rondo tunes everybody out because he thinks he knows everything. That's absolutely bogus. Sure, Rondo is resilient, but he's not a defector. I've never heard once of any issues between Doc and Rondo because Rondo showed him up and chose to run something differently.

Another issue with the "hard to coach" label... Rondo's HS coach loves him. Tubby Smith loves him. And like I just noted, Doc and Rondo have had differences, but they've always been able to learn from each other's perspectives and move on with a enlightened basketball mind. Honestly, what coach wouldn't want to have him? Brad Stevens has already expressed bounds of excitement at the idea of coaching Rondo.

What about the whole "bad teammate" deal? Really, outside of Allen, what other cases are there? There was Brandon Bass's "shut the #@$! up" his first season with Rondo, but that was quickly brushed off. Otherwise, I've only heard good things about Rondo as a teammate. He got the whole team together in LA last year to get a head start on workouts. Young players always seem him as a great mentor. Bradley said that Rondo was one of the main reasons that allowed him to go from potential bust to defensive ace. Hell, Rondo is willing to get ejected and smash his assist streak for the sake of defending his teammates.

That brings up another good point. Rondo is way too combustible on the court. He's confronted Humphries. He's confronted DMC. He's confronted CP3. There's absolutely no one Rondo won't back down to. But again, outside of Humphries, has Rondo ever done anything serious enough to warrant an ejection? Every other time it's simply ended up in a technical - and Rondo has never ever even approached being a league leader in technical fouls. Looking at ESPN, the highest he's ever gotten was tied for 12th place in the 11-12 season with 8 technical fouls.

But that brings us to yet another point. Rondo's only been ejected once for skirmishing, but he's got a lot more ejections under his belt because of conflicts with the officials. He was tossed for throwing a ball at a ref, and he was tossed for bumping Marc Davis. Honestly, this is finally something that I can acknowledge as a legitimate stain to his image. But honestly, let's not forget that Marc Davis is the same referee who has shown some extreme anti-Celtics bias in recent years, who has issued technicals for high-fiving, and even ejected a fan for getting too close to him. I'm not using that as an excuse for Rondo, but I for one would have a tough time simply letting those facts slide.

So really, I ask, is Rondo's perceived character issues truly compelling enough to be a reason to trade him? For me, considering the only legitimate issues are two run-ins with the officials, I hardly think so. Ironically, DMC is a popular trade target here, and he's many times the headcase Rondo is, IMO.

When did ray throw Kevin and Paul under a bus?

And you say Humphries was the time he got an ejection? Wasn't he suspended this year for bumping a ref (I think it was bogus personally but still he created the situation)? And wasn't he ejected and suspended for bumping one in the playoffs last year?

I was a big proponent of getting - even overpaying - for DMC. But that was with Garnett. I don't trust him now on this young team.

I think Rondo's attitude problem is a real one, but perhaps gets overblown slightly. I definitely do t think its fabricated like lightspeed5 thinks.

I honestly have no idea how things will play out with him now the undeniable leader of this team AND playing for a rookie coach. I think Doc,  KG and Pierce all kinda kept him in check and now they are all gone, so he can either grow up (he's immature IMO) or blow up.

[Sketch5]

I think one problem is Rondos competitiveness and passion for the game is unheard of in the modern NBA that people think he's a punk because of it.

KG loved the kid like a brother. KG would have dismissed him if he thought he was a punk.

I mean Jordan punched Kerr once. Sprewell chocked his coach. So throwing bottles at tv's isn't that big of a deal.

He doesn't get in trouble off the court.

His high IQ could be part of his problem, he doesn't know how to handle people well in situations. My wife is the same way and is socially awkward. Some people have thought she wasn't that great of a person or stuck up, which is far from what the truth and they later found out it was quite the opposite of their first impressions.

I much rather have a guy that throws bottles at tv's and yells at team mates to get in position or cut to the hoop like he did that one time with Pierce during a fastbreak in the playoffs. Then to have a guy with all around skills that doesn't say anything with no heart. 

[rondoallaturca]

When did ray throw Kevin and Paul under a bus?

And you say Humphries was the time he got an ejection? Wasn't he suspended this year for bumping a ref (I think it was bogus personally but still he created the situation)? And wasn't he ejected and suspended for bumping one in the playoffs last year?

I was a big proponent of getting - even overpaying - for DMC. But that was with Garnett. I don't trust him now on this young team.

I think Rondo's attitude problem is a real one, but perhaps gets overblown slightly. I definitely do t think its fabricated like lightspeed5 thinks.

I honestly have no idea how things will play out with him now the undeniable leader of this team AND playing for a rookie coach. I think Doc,  KG and Pierce all kinda kept him in check and now they are all gone, so he can either grow up (he's immature IMO) or blow up.

His ego was bruised when he was dangled in trades but Pierce and KG weren't. All butthurt, Ray expressed disappointment that Pierce and KG didn't do anything to change things. I'm not sure about Pierce, but Ray's relationship with KG further tumbled (hence why KG doesn't have Ray's number or why he ignored him during the first Miami/Boston game).

Also, I understand it was a long post, but if you read one more paragraph, I had acknowledged his issues with the officiating. Don't worry, I tried to consider everything I could think about when addressing Rondo's so-called misbehavior.

It's good to hear that many others here believe that Rondo's issues are overblown. Hopefully people will stop pointing to his "character issues" the next time a Rondo trade idea pops up.

[lightspeed5]

I think one problem is Rondos competitiveness and passion for the game is unheard of in the modern NBA that people think he's a punk because of it.

KG loved the kid like a brother. KG would have dismissed him if he thought he was a punk.

I mean Jordan punched Kerr once. Sprewell chocked his coach. So throwing bottles at tv's isn't that big of a deal.

He doesn't get in trouble off the court.

His high IQ could be part of his problem, he doesn't know how to handle people well in situations. My wife is the same way and is socially awkward. Some people have thought she wasn't that great of a person or stuck up, which is far from what the truth and they later found out it was quite the opposite of their first impressions.

I much rather have a guy that throws bottles at tv's and yells at team mates to get in position or cut to the hoop like he did that one time with Pierce during a fastbreak in the playoffs. Then to have a guy with all around skills that doesn't say anything with no heart.

I agree that rondo's high iq is part of it. If a player is out of position, then rondo sees it as infuriating

But that is rational to get p---ed about, not irrational.

[Monkhouse]

The media doesn't like Rondo, and because he doesn't cater well to interviews, social media, etc. The media tries to target Rondo as a loner, or someone who's a pessimistic. Which is highly inaccurate, and is also irritable how much dismay they throw at Rondo.

Rondo is a champion, and a fighter. When he played with one working arm, did anyone dare question his determination and courage to fight beyond his strength?

People don't like him, because they subjugate him as someone who's negative through his interviews, and how he talks.

I really dislike how the media portrays him. But let Rondo decide how he wants to approach said topic. I firmly believe him and Stevens will get along very well. Rondo is a very analytical guy, and has always been the one to receive praise for his intelligence, and ability to read plays in his mind. Perkins, Bradley, Green, KG, Pierce, Nate, and too many more have shown how much appreciation they have for him.

And honestly, why is Ray Allen always the defining truth when describing the antics and attitude of Rondo? Haven't we already realized the true barometer of a person, Allen really is with his comment on our finals game?

As for the fight between him and Doc. I mean who cares. Players argue, and sometimes even fight. But as long as the relationship is mended, and they get along to work together in the long run, who really cares? Phil has said Michael Jordan was a very tough person to coach, same for Kobe.

Guess what the two of them all share with Rondo? Their both fierce competitors.

In before someone negatively says Rondo is a terrible leader, needs to be traded, and doesn't show up for season games.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'll say that Rondo is not an easy character, but I think he's been highly misjudged by the media.

I'd say more than anything, Rondo doesn't seem to suffer fools well or nonsense.

[paidthecost2betheboss]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mCJNg2a3IHw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzGnyp4nLFw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWXYGiFpMkE

I love Rondo's image.

I don't see the problem having a guy who plays with heart and intensity.
 oh and...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ar7-iPN0j9I

[lightspeed5]

Rondo is very sarcastic and charismatic. In my opinion, bad charactered players dont typically get tv commercials.

does this seem like a "headcase" to you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ucJsTp7yOQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkoE5N-2dM0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpOlZ9Z6q30
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlLcWsisGQA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEh7r-jUo60

[GreenEnvy]

When did ray throw Kevin and Paul under a bus?

And you say Humphries was the time he got an ejection? Wasn't he suspended this year for bumping a ref (I think it was bogus personally but still he created the situation)? And wasn't he ejected and suspended for bumping one in the playoffs last year?

I was a big proponent of getting - even overpaying - for DMC. But that was with Garnett. I don't trust him now on this young team.

I think Rondo's attitude problem is a real one, but perhaps gets overblown slightly. I definitely do t think its fabricated like lightspeed5 thinks.

I honestly have no idea how things will play out with him now the undeniable leader of this team AND playing for a rookie coach. I think Doc,  KG and Pierce all kinda kept him in check and now they are all gone, so he can either grow up (he's immature IMO) or blow up.

His ego was bruised when he was dangled in trades but Pierce and KG weren't. All butthurt, Ray expressed disappointment that Pierce and KG didn't do anything to change things. I'm not sure about Pierce, but Ray's relationship with KG further tumbled (hence why KG doesn't have Ray's number or why he ignored him during the first Miami/Boston game).

Also, I understand it was a long post, but if you read one more paragraph, I had acknowledged his issues with the officiating. Don't worry, I tried to consider everything I could think about when addressing Rondo's so-called misbehavior.

It's good to hear that many others here believe that Rondo's issues are overblown. Hopefully people will stop pointing to his "character issues" the next time a Rondo trade idea pops up.

Ha, my bad I see it now about the officiating.

I guess I never considered Ray voicing his disappointment with his "brothers" not fighting for him more than they did (if they even did), because its a natural emotion. I don't think he ever had anything negative to say about either player unless I missed something along the way.



I actually like Rondo's personality, just unsure if it is right for a leader.

[BballTim]

  Rondo's a fiery competitor and a prickly player. Neither of those traits really separate him from other top level players.

[rondoallaturca]

Interesting to hear everyone's opinion, and it's a relief that basically everyone thinks Rondo isn't the guy the media makes him out to be. I think it's actually pretty smart to point out the media "targeting" Rondo, because Rondo certainly approaches them with a very DGAF attitude.

[Eddie20]

Rondo's a fiery competitor and a prickly player. Neither of those traits really separate him from other top level players.

Well, I'm not so sure about that. Rondo is indeed fiery, but it's his surly personality that has given him this image of being difficult.

During an interview today, Ainge himself, said that Stevens reached out to several of Rondo's former teammates and he received "a lot of mixed signals" about Rondo.

I know you love Rondo, and that's fine, but at the same time when so many coaches and players, and those are just the ones that have been made public, have issues with the same individual then you have to ask yourself who is the common denominator?