Rajon Rondo doesn’t usually strike people as the nicest player in the world. Maybe he actually is as arrogant and selfish as some describe him to be, in the locker room. He has that swagger and behavior about him on the court as well. After his turnover in the final seconds against the Hawks, he was clearly not in the best of moods.
Rondo in general didn’t have a great game against the Atlanta Hawks. After two very dominant performances in Games 3 & 4 Rondo struggled offensively and couldn’t slice his way through the Hawks defense like he has gotten used to. The return of Al Horford was that meaningful to Atlanta. Horford was the one who stopped Rondo before the C’s point guard managed to pull up for a game winning shot.
His numbers? 13 points, while shooting 6-17 from the field. He did have 12 assists and 5 steals, but he also turned the ball over five times. Eventually, he played very well down the stretch to bring back the Celtics into the game, but he was also the one to lose the final chance for a win. Frustrating, and feeling disappointed, as you can imagine, after the game.
But Rondo will now probably get more stiff reaction for his post game behavior, that might be just some momentary glimpse at an annoyed young man, trying to have some time with old friends, hanging out with Josh Smith and his family. But maybe everything Rondo seems to be and is rumored to be, beyond his skills on the basketball court, is there for a reason.
He might not like the fact that he’s an NBA star who can’t really find privacy in the same amount in which he was used to for his entire life, but he should be over that fact by now, you’d think. For some reason he didn’t really like being filmed after the game, waiting for the press conference to begin, walking up rather intimidatingly to the camera guy.
For those who like to criticize Rondo and put him down for what he takes away from his team with his personality, this is perfect gasoline for the fire. If you look at the bigger picture and the way in which he just ended the game, you might think he has every right to be this angry. But it doesn’t look good. Appearance, especially in such a high profile business, goes a long way.