If you read CB, you would think Rondo has such a miserable and prickly personality that there's no way he would handle a benching well. Especially for a rookie PG and a bunch of bench players and especially when he's a 4-time allstar in a contract year...
Instead, Rondo was up cheering, rooting, and encouraging Smart.
"I'm very competitive," [Rondo] said. "I wanted to play. I wanted to compete and be on the floor. But the guys in front of me, the guys who were out there, were playing great. And I didn't want to mess up any momentum."
The guard added: "There was no communication (between him and Stevens) but there was nothing needed. Like I said, the guys did a great job making a run out there. Our bench did a great job tonight and they deserved to play."
“Give Rondo as much credit as anyone else on our team,” Stevens told reporters after the game. “Rondo’s the loudest guy on the bench. Rondo’s running out at timeouts. Rondo was active. I think Rondo was very comfortable in saying, ‘Let’s bring this home.’ I give him a lot of credit for being that kind of guy, because he doesn’t have to be.”
I know a pro-Rondo thread is about as cool as taxes around here, but this was really cool for me to see.