Rajon Rondo may not play for the Boston Celtics anymore, but he has a lot to say about how the franchise honors its past stars. Rondo, himself a former Celtics standout, was critical of another former Boston guard, Isaiah Thomas, for potentially tampering with the celebration the team has planned for Paul Pierce.
The story here is that Thomas didn’t play the first time the Cavaliers and Celtics met in Boston this season. Thomas’ logic was that he wanted to be on the court and have his family in attendance if the team was going to celebrate his time in Boston, but moving the video to the next Cavs/Celtics game would be Paul Pierce jersey retirement night.
That didn’t sit well with plenty of people, and Thomas himself decided to turn down the video so the night can be all about Pierce. But Rondo, now with the New Orleans Pelicans, was asked about the situation and did not hold back.
Rajon Rondo was irked to hear that the Celtics would honor Isaiah Thomas on any night. "What has he done?” Rondo asked. Told that he led the Celtics to the conference finals last year, Rondo remarked, “Oh, that’s what we celebrate around here?”
— Bill Doyle (@BillDoyle15) January 17, 2018
Clearly he’s not interested in playing nice here, and he’s certainly more interested in defending his former teammate in Pierce than giving Thomas some praise. He’s also not above throwing some shade at the Phoenix Suns, where Thomas played before joining the Celtics.
More Rondo on IT: “This is the Boston Celtics. 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?”
Title banners, Rondo was told.
“OK, cool,” Rondo said.— Bill Doyle (@BillDoyle15) January 17, 2018
Rondo does have a bit of a point: A storied franchise like the Celtics doesn’t need to pay tribute to people that don’t deliver championships, but perhaps he could have been a bit more gentle here and acknowledge that Thomas did leave an impact during his time with the organization. Not everyone can win a title with the Celtics in their rookie season, man.
