‘I never quit’: Rajon Rondo disputes reason he didn’t get along with coach Rick Carlisle
Rajon Rondo was on FanDuel TV’s flagship NBA show, “Run it Back,” where he discussed what went wrong during his short tenure with the Dallas Mavericks and why he couldn’t get along with then-head coach Rick Carlisle.
Rondo spoke with former Mavs teammate Chandler Parsons about what went wrong.
“The first month I’m there I’m just tryna sit back and learn, I’m a sponge. I’m trying to figure out Rick’s coaching style, tryna figure out, OK where does Dirk like the ball,” Rondo said. “One particular game...Dirk he had a couple of buckets on one side of the floor so I try to flip the play to the other side that’s when Rick was like ‘What the **** is you doing’...he starts stomping and **** like that on the floor. As a man it’s like bruh you disrespectful man I’m a champion.”
Rondo played 46 games with the Mavs during the 2014-15 season after being a mid-season acquisition from the Boston Celtics.
At the time it was hoped that Rondo could help the Mavs make a deep playoff push, however, the team would lose four games to one in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs to the Houston Rockets and Rondo would only play 37 minutes in the series.
Rondo said he felt Carlisle treated him like a rookie or a young point guard and not like a player of his perceived caliber and refuted talking points saying he quit on the team.
“They’re like, [Rick Carlisle] doesn’t want to coach you anymore, so we’re going to say your back is hurting and you’re done playing,” Rondo said. “That’s why when I go back to Dallas, every time I get booed like it’s if I quit on the organization… I’ve never quit on anything in life.”
