Blog

So much for The Streak.  Magic Johnson can rest easy now, not because Rajon Rondo wasn’t capable of surpassing him, but because Rondo was unable to get the chance.   Not after getting ejected in the final seconds of the first half against the Brooklyn Nets, when Rondo went after Kris Humphries for his hard foul on Kevin Garnett.  With Garnett on the floor beneath the basket, Rondo shoved Humphries to let him know what he thought of the play.  The altercation led to tangled arms and legs, players shoving one another and, ultimately, Rondo in the locker room after being ejected.

While the foul on Garnett may not have been as hard as it initially appeared, it clearly lit a fuse on our man Rondo.  There will be those who claim Rondo’s reaction was a punk move, but I’m not one of them.  Rondo was taking up for his teammate, and he wasn’t going to let Humphries get away with a shot to KG’s face – intentional or not.

The question now will revolve around Rondo’s certain suspension.  How many games?  How will his absence hurt an already fragile Celtics team struggling to find a groove?  Without question the loss will hurt in the short term, but it may also turn out ot be a positive in the long run.  Maybe Rondo knew what he was doing all along, and maybe his reaction was intended to serve as a wake-up call to his teammates.

Let’s hope Jeff Green and Co. get the message, and get it quickly.  We need players to ball hard, to bring their lunch pails to work and to give it all on every possession.

Mad props, Rondo.