Rajon Rondo Out of Boston? Bad Attitude Has Prompted the Celtics to Shop Him

Loy's Place and the Boston Celtics News Station are reporting this morning that Sports Tonight's Tanguay, Russillo, Mannix, and Felger have discovered that Rajon Rondo is actually being shopped by Danny Ainge and the Celtics organization.

After his successful first-round series against Chicago, it looks as if Rondo is looking for a large contract that Boston is not willing to pay.

The rumor is also declaring that some Celtics players do not like playing with Rondo.

Some Celtics fans will take this as a shock. I do not.

After reading Top of the World by Peter May, chronicling the Celtics' championship season, I came to the realization that Rondo has had "issues" taking direction.

The book stated that, "Rondo was emotional, stubborn, and not easy to coach; he needed to mature and had not fit in well at Kentucky."

This was a definite red flag for me entering the 2008 season.

Further indications were Rondo's several post-game interviews in which his comments often contradicted that of coach Doc Rivers.

Doc and Rondo's differences seemed to become more public when Rivers gave an interview to The Eagle Tribune on June 7.

When Doc was asked if he considered Rondo an All-Star, he replied, "Rondo still has a lot of growth ahead of him. As great as his numbers were, as great as he played at times, guys still fell off him to double team."

Doc furthered his argument by going into detail, "Guys don't fall off of an All-Star to help with someone else. He has to make them pay for that by hitting his shot."

Doc went on to state that, "Rondo has a healthy ego."

I think Doc was stating the obvious about Rondo's jumper (or lack thereof), but doing so in such a public fashion can be construed as indicating the player and coach are possibly having some "issues."

Regarding Rondo's "healthy ego," I can say that I found the Rondo arrival to a crucial playoff game in a Red Bull Race Car to be distracting and a bit over the top.

After reading about Danny Ainge's love affair with Tyreke Evans and exploring the player's positives and negatives in more detail, I discovered that Evans is a player that seems to resemble Rajon Rondo in more than a few ways.

Evans, like Rondo, is extremely quick, has long arms, and is exciting and creative with the ball in his hands. He is an excellent defender.

Evans adds more length then Rondo at 6'5" and the possibility of defending the elite shooting guards of the league. Evans is often compared to Derrick Rose—not bad.

It's been said, on a more negative note, that Evans must improve his defense, intensity, and outside shot.

Rondo and Ray Allen were initially named in trade rumors regarding securing the second pick in the draft. When I discovered that Ainge wanted Evans with that pick, I realized Rondo was the target of this trade. I was immediately reminded of Rondo's "issues" and thought maybe this was a scare tactic by Danny.

Today I realize that I may have been wrong.

Stay tuned...