Like a true Celtic, Chicago’s Rajon Rondo is killing playoff dreams

He who once giveth, now he taketh away. 

Rajon Rondo’s first season with the Chicago Bulls has been tumultuous, and that’s putting it lightly. 

Coming off his lone season with the Sacramento Kings that produced nothing but a league-leading average of 11.7 assists per game, Rondo once again found himself signing with another squad. This time, he donned the legendary red colors of The Windy City. 

In a cruel twist of fate, at least for Boston fans, the former champion guard who once bled green is now the harbinger of doom for the Celtics, contributing 11 points, 14 assists, 9 rebounds and 5 steals in a 111-97 win on Tuesday, April 18 (Wednesday Manila time) en route to an improbable 2-0 start.

The last time an eighth-seeded team had a 2-0 start against a first seed was 25 years ago, when the 1992-1993 Los Angeles Lakers shook the Phoenix Suns. 

Prior to this much-needed resurgence, Rondo was nearly out the door halfway across the season, when he once again lived up to his hotheaded reputation and butted heads with the coaching staff. 

His credibility took a big hit when he practically quit on the Dallas Mavericks after publicly disagreeing with head coach Rick Carlisle’s plans for him. This prompted Dallas to ship him to Sacramento. There he thrived, albeit with a massive uptick in usage rate (the amount of time he has the ball in his hands).

Bulls head coach Fred Hoiberg knew all too well about the drama Rondo can cause and benched him after 29 games of subpar play, even going as far as not playing him at all even though he was perfectly healthy to compete. 

Although he initially thought the benching was “bullshit,” he eventually went quiet and took the benching in stride. As the Bulls’ plummeted in the standings amid Hoiberg’s experiments with other guards such as Jerian Grant and Michael Carter-Williams, Rondo quietly contributed when his number was called. He never demanded a trade nor complained despite their failures, at least to the knowledge of the public. 

However, with the Bulls in danger of missing out on the playoffs for the second straight season, Hoiberg dropped his failing experiments and gave back starting minutes to Rondo for the final 15 games. They won 10 of their last 15 as Rondo posted efficient averages of 12.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 7.3 assists on 47% shooting and a Curry-like 46% from three-point land. 

This enabled the Bulls to finish the season at 41 wins and 41 losses, enough to sneak in as an eighth seed in the playoffs.

With two games done, Rondo is now flying back to Chicago with their two upset wins and averages of 13 points, 8.5 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 3.5 steals. If all goes well, Boston may not have another day to boo him again.

Not like he cares. He’s Rajon Rondo. He’s seen it all. – Rappler.com