That was extremely fast.
All the right things were said during the introductory press conference, but it’s easy to see that Rajon Rondo needs a special coach or organization to harness all of his pent-up emotion.
ESPN’s Tim McMahon reported that there’s not much of a chance that Rondo — an unrestricted free agent this coming summer with dreams of L.A. — will remain a Maverick long-term:
The root of the Rondo-Carlisle crisis is a simmering disagreement about whether the Mavs were best off with the genius former Coach of the Year or brilliant four-time All-Star point guard calling the majority of the plays.
Rondo, a nine-year veteran with one of the highest basketball IQs in the league, believes that’s a big part of his job as a point guard. Carlisle, one of the NBA’s best offensive minds, doesn’t want to hand the keys of his sports car over to a guy he just met.
It’s similar to the friction between Carlisle and future Hall of Fame point guard Jason Kidd during their first season together, except they never had “SportsCenter”-leading shouting matches. Carlisle ceded control to Kidd in midseason, and that duo played prominent roles in the Mavs’ title run a few years later.
Could history repeat itself? Don’t hold your breath. The reality is Rondo’s run with the Mavs is extremely unlikely to extend past this season.
That deteriorated quickly, and it’s not like Rick Carlisle is some stiff of a coach.
Dallas acquired Rondo in December, and owner Mark Cuban said publicly that the plan wasn’t to make him a rental. Thoughts of that early season breakfast between Rondo and Kobe Bryant will definitely have some feeling Rondo could be Houston or L.A. bound.