Rondo, IT both ejected for getting tangled up & trash talk over IT video tribute

[Green-18]

It's amazing how fans are still rooting for IT to fail on here

I am not rooting for IT to fail but there are few teams I despise, the Cavs are one and the Lakers are yet another.  I don't think I could ever root for either of these teams.

I don't mean wins and losses.  There's a general vibe that people seem to enjoy watching IT struggle.  I'm not including you in this group lol.

I appreciate IT's contributions during his tenure and I want him to figure things in the long run. 

[KingChre]

His season was arguably the best of any Celtic since Bird. Not Rondo, not KG, maybe not even Pierce put up that type of season in green. He didn’t have a better Celtics career than any of those guys, but he was stellar last season.

They led the EC, winning 53 games and had no second scoring option. Clearly the second best team in the East.

You think Rondo could do that? I appreciate Rondo, having watched about 98% of his games in a Celtics uniform. He still bleeds green (despite not looking that way his last season and a half with us). But what’s his issue here? Was he worried IT would get a better reception/tribute than he did? IT gave us everything he had, physically and emotionally. Nobody can ever say that about Rondo. He dogged it more often than not. This literally has nothing to do with him and he went in for no apparent reason.

I get Pierce’s stance, it really didn’t feel personal. He just wanted his day to himself. And I can say I definitely preferred seeing all the Pierce tributes during timeouts than I would IT’s video. Wrong day for it, plain and simple.

I'm no psychologist but I would guess that this goes back to Rondo's loyalty to Pierce and the fact that he got hurt last year during the playoffs. He's known as a headstrong, fierce competitor who is extremely loyal. You can look up his Instagram post about "his veterans" from last year, and point to his showing up for Pierce's jersey ceremony if you have any questions about how he feels about Paul.

Hearing his comments about Isaiah's video tribute, it was clear he was personally offended that IT would request the video be played on Pierce's night. Combined with some lingering distaste over the way that the playoffs ended last year, he was ready to blow.

He definitely took it too far, because he's Rondo, and that's his fatal flaw, but I'll be darned if that wasn't really funny to watch (only because no one was actually hurt).

[Roy H.]

I don't know who to side with...IT7 and his annoying brags about brinks trucks and video tributes and stuff, or Rondo who clearly has a good history of disliking players who formerly played for the Celtics (Ray Allen, and now IT7 although two completely different squads).

This is pretty funny.

I’m siding with Rondo on this one.  He’s still a Celtic:

"What has he done?" Rondo said to the Worcester Telegram and Gazette in January. When told that Thomas led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference finals last season, Rondo said, "Oh, that's what we celebrate around here?"

"This is the Boston Celtics," Rondo said. "This isn't the Phoenix Suns. No disrespect to any other organization, but you don't hang conference titles. Do we hang going to the conference finals? What do we hang here?"

I hope he comes back someday soon.

We miss the lazy effort, skipping games, stats chasing and underminining coaches that much?

Rondo quit on the Celtics.

[perks-a-beast]

Rondo acts like he didn't ride the coat tails of 3 hall of famers to get his ring...IT4 lead the celtics to the conference finals with Avery Bradley as the 3rd best player on his team..something Rondo could never do.

I'm sorry but IT4 is a celtics legend and what he did to help this franchise will not soon be forgotten. Don't know why Rondo feels the need to be a pompous turd and try to minimize IT4's accomplishments.

[gift]

It says a lot about the Celtics franchise that two recent ex-point guards have beef over who had a better Celtics career. They are both more than one team removed from the Celtics now, but are still fighting over that one special team they played for at different times. Doesn't seem like either cares which one endeared themselves more to Kings fans.

[apc]

I’m just happy the Lakers are losing again.

[Donoghus]

Somewhere BBallTim is smiling....

[tstorey_97]

Kind of a high school girl hallway dustup.

[tonydelk]

Didn't see what Rondo was doing wrong as his hands were up the whole time but I'm guessing there was a lot of barking going on. Always loved Rondo's attitude before he decided not to play defense anymore. Glad to see he still has it

Agreed.  In the video I did not see him hit IT in the face and it seemed he was playing very aggressive D.  Thomas initiated some of the contact by going into Rondo but I did not see anything dirty there.  I love how Rondo is so loyal to KG, Pierce etc.  Rondo still can play lock down D when he feels like it.  If he has motivation look out.  The playoffs showed that.

[kozlodoev]

We miss the lazy effort, skipping games, stats chasing and underminining coaches that much?

Nah, we still have tons of that on our current roster as is.

[Phantom255x]

I love Rondo and miss him, but come on, IT last year single handedly led the team to the ECF and had MVP numbers (29/6). Rondo couldn't do that and ultimately stopped playing defense post the Big 3-Era, when it was essentially his team.

Maybe I'm in the minority, but I really don't think Isaiah deserves all the "dissing" he's getting from former Celtics players and the media.

And yeah, it's old news, but I still can't believe Pierce acted so insecure about Isaiah potentially having some 2-3 minute tribute video on his retirement day.

I don't see any reason to diss IT either, but it's not clear he surpassed Rondo in any way by having a big offensive season and reaching the ECF.

Rondo made 4 consecutive All-Star teams, 4 All-Defense teams, led the league in assists 3 times, won a championship as the starting PG, and was a monster in the playoffs even out-dueling LeBron at times. You don't think he could have put up even bigger stats if he wasn't deferring to the Big 3 all the time on those championships runs? If he played in a era where Westbrook actually averaged a triple double and wasn't even the best player in the league?

IT played 2 years and was a top-5 scorer on an ECF team once. Last year was great, but it takes a short memory to say IT > Rondo without hesitation.

To be fair to Phantom, his profile indicates he’s 19, so he was 9-13 during the height of Rondo’s magnificence, and thus might not legitimately remember or be able to have the correct perspective.

Lol maybe that could be it 

But I wonder what could have been for Isaiah if he had a Big 3-like nucleus around him as well. I mean last year he had to do it alone with no other true scoring threats.

Kyrie is slightly better but you see now we're still losing games despite big games from him because of that lack of another consistent scoring threat (like Hayward).

As for Rondo, I loved him, and still have his jersey to this day haha. In my entire life I've gotten four jerseys/shirts (Rondo, Pierce, Turner, Isaiah). The last two got traded or signed elsewhere Less than 6 months later 

Rondo I got in 2009 and he stayed for a while. Same with Pierce (got his in 2007)   

[nostar]

We miss the lazy effort, skipping games, stats chasing and underminining coaches that much?
Rondo quit on the Celtics.

I like to view it differently, though I certainly see how you might have this perspective. The notable events that precipitated Rondo's less than stellar performance:

   Rondo tore his ACL
   Billy King threw the kitchen sink at Danny at the draft

The 50 or so games Rondo played for us, post big-3 era, aren't his finest. No question about that. I don't think it's fair to say he quit though. He was rehabbing and playing on a rebuilding team after having pretty much constant success for his whole career before that. All the while a new coach, new system, and new players were ushering in a rebuild. Even during that he played the part of a good veteran presence and leader until we moved him to Dallas.

He definitely wasn't the same guy post-injury, but I don't think 'quit' really applies to him. He just knew the score, post-trade. Rondo is a smart dude.

I love that he called out the Suns specifically. They weren't the team that traded his draft rights or anything

I hope he comes back someday soon.

This is my stance on Rondo exactly.

[Big333223]

They're both upset they're not still Celtics. 

[spikelovetheCelts]

It says a lot about the Celtics franchise that two recent ex-point guards have beef over who had a better Celtics career. They are both more than one team removed from the Celtics now, but are still fighting over that one special team they played for at different times. Doesn't seem like either cares which one endeared themselves more to Kings fans.

Could not have said it better myself.  This is why we love the Green and White.

[seancally]

His season was arguably the best of any Celtic since Bird. Not Rondo, not KG, maybe not even Pierce put up that type of season in green. He didn’t have a better Celtics career than any of those guys, but he was stellar last season.

They led the EC, winning 53 games and had no second scoring option. Clearly the second best team in the East.

You think Rondo could do that? I appreciate Rondo, having watched about 98% of his games in a Celtics uniform. He still bleeds green (despite not looking that way his last season and a half with us). But what’s his issue here? Was he worried IT would get a better reception/tribute than he did? IT gave us everything he had, physically and emotionally. Nobody can ever say that about Rondo. He dogged it more often than not. This literally has nothing to do with him and he went in for no apparent reason.

I get Pierce’s stance, it really didn’t feel personal. He just wanted his day to himself. And I can say I definitely preferred seeing all the Pierce tributes during timeouts than I would IT’s video. Wrong day for it, plain and simple.

Best half season. The offensive half.