If Rajon Rondo has never been an easy player to manage, it was undoubtedly in Dallas that things went the worst.
Arriving in Texas in December 2014, notably in exchange for Jae Crowder, the playmaker subsequently often clashed with his coach, Rick Carlisle, and he ended the campaign in the infirmary…
At least, that's the official version because the retiree now explains that his back injury during the first round of the 2015 playoffs against the Rockets was “diplomatic”, and that he was instead left out of the group.
A phone call to invent an injury
“They tell me that (Rick Carlisle) doesn’t want to train me anymore, and so they’re going to say that my back hurts and that I can’t play anymore.” he says in the show Run It Back about a phone call with Rick Carlisle, Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson and his agent, Bill Duffy. “That's why every time I went back to Dallas, I was booed like I let the franchise down. I have never given up on anything in my life. »
What is certain is that he was not made to work with Rick Carlisle, the current coach of the Pacers.
“The first month, after my arrival, I tried to learn, to be a sponge” he explains. “I was trying to understand Rick's coaching style, to understand where Dirk (Nowitzki) liked to receive the ball. In one particular game… Dirk had scored several baskets on one side of the court so I wanted to modify a system, to shoot it on that side of the court, and Rick said to me: 'What what are you doing?' He started stomping and pounding on the ground. As a man, it's like he's disrespecting me, because I'm a champion. »
Obviously, the marriage in Texas did not last long, Rajon Rondo taking charge of the Kings to relaunch the following season. And although he changed a lot of teams at the end of his career, he still won a second title, with the Lakers, in the Orlando “bubble” in 2020.
