Rajon Rondo is having a rough week. Just when it seemed like he was ready to regain his standing among the best point guards in the NBA, it all went wrong. He was outstanding for the Chicago Bulls in Games 1 and 2, almost averaging a triple double. Then news dropped that he’d fractured his right thumb. An injury that could keep him out a couple weeks.
If that weren’t bad enough, it got worse when cameras caught him in Game 3 extending his leg on the bench as Jae Crowder was running down the sideline. It looked to the casual viewer like Rondo was trying to trip him. An accusation he later denied.
Rondo trying to make things happen.
Watch him attempt to trip Jae Crowder 👀pic.twitter.com/pih1mvgF1t
— TotalProSports (@TotalProSports) April 22, 2017
Lighter pockets
Be that as it may, Rondo didn’t convince the NBA league office. For the incident they decided to slap him with a significant fine according to ESPN.
Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo was fined $25,000 for sticking out his leg from the bench in an attempt to trip Boston Celtics forward Jae Crowder on Friday.
NBA vice president of basketball operations Kiki VanDeWeghe announced the fine.
Rondo said after the game Friday that he was not trying to trip the Celtics player.
“When you tear an ACL, your legs get stiff on you every once in a while,” Rondo said. “I stretched my leg out. I also do that throughout the game. I guess he was so deep into our bench, it looked maybe whatever may have happened.”
It may not sound like a lot in the context of an NBA salary, but there is no doubt this was a warning to Rondo. For all his brilliance on the court, the man has a history of being unpredictable and reckless when he’s frustrated. Possibly not being able to finish a series he was playing so well in can rank right near the top in those situations. They want him to behave and taking money from his pocket is a good way to do that.
