Rajon Rondo is no stranger to controversy so he doesn’t mince words when he has to speak his mind. In a statement he gave to certain media in attendance, the New Orleans Pelicans guard was quite offended that the Boston Celtics were going to honor Isaiah Thomas with a tribute video.
According to Bill Doyle of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette:
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
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
The Pelicans’ guard wanted to emphasize that the Celtics only hang championship banners and not conference championships. Rondo was the starting point guard of the 2008 NBA champion Celtics that added a 17th banner to the rafters of the TD Garden.
After nine seasons with the Celtics, Rondo played for several teams, namely the Dallas Mavericks, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings, and now New Orleans. He received a tribute video from the Celtics while with Dallas during a game in Boston.
Since he took part in delivering a championship to the Celtics, Rondo believes that a tribute video is only mandatory for those that are part of a championship team in Boston. Interestingly, Rondo continues to see himself as a Celtic rather than the team he is playing for as evidenced by his statements:
“Do we hang going to the conference finals? What do we hang here?”
To be fair, Thomas declined to have his video tribute shown on the night that the Celtics were going to honor Paul Pierce, another member of the 2008 title-winning team.
Despite playing for only three seasons with Boston, Thomas endeared himself to the city and the franchise with his tough, no-nonsense approach. During the 2017 NBA playoffs, Thomas played through emotional stress after his sister died in April. Among his exploits was a 53-point performance versus the Washington Wizards on his sister’s birthday.
Thomas also played through pain and injury during the playoffs but was nonetheless traded despite his commitment to the franchise.
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