It seems typical that Rajon Rondo should suffer another damaging setback in the middle of a career resurgence, when his style of play was being appreciated again. He was Morris Day singing next to Bruno Mars, winning over a new generation of admirers used to high-scoring, me-first point guards.
Rondo was brilliant in the first two games of the Bulls’ series with the Celtics, averaging 11.5 points, 10 assists, and 8.5 rebounds before being sidelined indefinitely with a fractured right thumb sustained in Game 2.
Rondo is no stranger to injuries. He broke his hand before training camp in 2014, after tearing his right anterior cruciate ligament in January 2013, an injury that temporarily derailed his career. Scouts observed that Rondo never truly regained his speed from that injury, although he did return to the Celtics to play 30 games during the 2013-14 season before being traded to Dallas in December.
He then became a basketball vagabond. His ill-fated stint with the Mavericks included being benched for the playoffs. He spent one year with Sacramento, where he put up Rondo-like numbers, but the Kings’ environment was miserable and Rondo was suspended by the league for one game for an anti-gay slur directed at official Bill Kennedy in a game against the Celtics.
After averaging a league-high 11.7 assists, Rondo signed with the Bulls, paired with Dwyane Wade to join Jimmy Butler and form a new Big Three. This season has been nothing short of a soap opera for Rondo. Called “slow’’ by coachFred Hoiberg, he was benched, and then suspended one game for yelling at an assistant coach. He was placed back into the starting lineup and then emerged as the old Rondo again against his former team.
Would you be surprised if things were any less dramatic for Rondo? And now a potential season-ending injury. Rondo was reflective when he spoke to the media. His relationship with the media over the years has been much like that with his coaches. His intelligence sometimes dares him to challenge the media, force reporters to ask astute questions to get the best replies.
At age 31, nearly 10 years after helping the Celtics to the 2008 championship, he appears to understand his place in the game, his mistakes, and because of age and injury, his limitations.
“I just got to put the credit to my age,’’ Rondo said of accepting his demotion and then promotion without causing a stir. “I’m 31 now and my role is different. When I had older guys around me I kind of leaned on those guys for advice. I went through tough times, so for me to leave the example — just continue to work, show up on time, and work even harder now. So that’s what I’m trying to do.
“You could say that [perception of me is not reality]. But people who know me [know the truth]. What you guys write is part of the story, but that’s not who I am daily. I guess this year in particular, what I went through is part of the growing process. For me, I try to grow each year. I try to grow up each year, each day, wake up and try to be better, try to be a better version of me. The older you are, the more mature you act and the wiser you become.’’
This season didn’t go as Rondo expected. He wanted to resurrect his career and status as a front-line point guard, orchestrating the offense with Butler and Wade dropping buckets. But the Bulls’ offense in the early going was a mess and Hoiberg appeared incapable of harnessing the team’s talent into positive results.
“It’s up there,’’ Rondo said when asked if it was his most challenging of 12 NBA seasons. “A couple of seasons back, also. My first season [in Boston] we lost 18 straight. You doubt if you even belong in the NBA. The team was so bad and I wasn’t even playing a lot, so that was a pretty tough year as well. But I never was down and out, it just made me work even harder and the cream always rises to the top. I knew I was trying to get my head in the right direction to lead these young guys whatever way I needed to do that.’’
Rondo does not appear to be bitter, perhaps because some of his issues were self-induced. He seems to have gained satisfaction from this season.
“People going to form their opinions regardless of what I say or how I act,’’ said Rondo. “It’s how life is, but the people that’s close to me are very supportive and I’m doing what I love. I went through a tough time playing basketball but I have a great job, doing what I love, and I’m still smiling to this day while I do it.
“If those [younger] guys want to listen, I try to give as much advice as possible. I remember when I was a younger cat, I always thought the veteran guys talked too much. I don’t always want to be the guy talking, but when they ask questions I always try to give my best advice. Not just talking about it, I try to lead by example.’’
Before he was injured, Rondo said something prophetic about the young players staying engaged.
“The rotations are what they are right now but I told every guy to be ready, even the guys that aren’t dressing right now,’’ he said. “You never know in Game 6, they might have to play a tough six or seven minutes to help us win a game. Trying to keep everyone locked in and knowing it will take all 15 to win.’’
Rondo finally seems to understand that the key to staying in the league past age 30 is being a good teammate and mentor. Older, bitter players are usually ushered out of the league unless their talent supersedes their attitude, and Rondo realized it wasn’t.
“I don’t really think I went through that much last year or the year before. I had some great times,’’ he said of the Dallas and Sacramento stops. “I met a lot of great, new teammates, new friends I consider. The league is like a brotherhood. I played with a lot of different players, a lot of different rookies come through. You meet a lot of great people in different organizations. You continue to move on with your life.’’
The Sacramento stop was bizarre. Rondo put up strong but meaningless numbers, and his pairing with DeMarcus Cousins did little to resuscitate the franchise. Cousins was eventually traded to New Orleans.
“Besides losing, individually I accomplished one of my goals,’’ Rondo said of leading the league in assists. “It wasn’t hard at all. I was out in California, great weather, waking up every day having shorts and T-shirts on for practice, but besides losing and watching film over and over at night after those losses, the next day the sun always came up and I went back to work.’’
In Chicago it was supposed to be different, but the Bulls trudged their way to a 41-41 record with Rondo in and out of the lineup. Now the Bulls have a real opportunity to advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals — perhaps lesser with Rondo out.
Rondo said it was unrealistic to expect the Bulls to become a juggernaut with so many new additions.
“This team was put together in a couple of months. I think 10 new guys,’’ he said. “It’s hard to gel that quickly, especially if guys don’t have the right mind-set, but at the same time I feel like organizations have to give guys a little bit of time to grow and learn each other.
“Everyone is not going to be San Antonio, but for me I figure you’ve got to always try to keep your guys together as long as possible so they can develop the chemistry and make deep runs in the playoffs and go through things together and grow. So if that’s the case here, that will be great, but if not it’s up to those guys.’’
After the Bulls’ 100-80 loss to the Celtics on March 12, Rondo wasn’t so sure he wanted to return to Chicago, which holds an option on his contract for next season.
“My perspective on things [has changed], I would love to be part of a winning tradition or winning culture,’’ he said at the time. “I thought I was going to get that here. The people up top are going in a different direction as far as experimenting. It [stinks] when you have the opportunity to make the playoffs and they want to go a different route.
“I’m looking for a straightforward coach. That’s what I’m looking forward to the most, sitting down with a coach. I want to develop a relationship and see what his goals are.’’
After Game 1, Rondo said, “I like where I’m at. I think we have a really good team. We made a big trade halfway through the season, all the things we went through this year with 45 different lineups, we still make it to the playoffs. Right now, try to stay as consistent as possible and develop some type of chemistry with these guys.’’
Rondo is aware there are higher-scoring and flashier point guards, but he is comfortable with his game, even the limitations.
“The point guards now, they’re dropping 30 every night. That’s a different style of play than I play,’’ he said. “I just want to go out there and win. My talent is different from Isaiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving — we play a different style of game, but whether people consider me top five or top 50, I’m playing right now for a playoff team. As a starting point guard I feel like if I can put my imprint on the game I can change the game a lot.
“I can only control what I can control. You can’t consider me top 10. I didn’t start for 30 games this year. I’m probably the only point guard that happened to. But that’s part of the process. You can’t control the past, you can only look forward to the future.’’
ETC.
Beasley has come of age with Bucks
Michael Beasley is a reserve for the Milwaukee Bucks, a far cry from being the No. 2 overall pick nine years ago by Miami. Beasley’s career has been plagued by bad decisions and a soiled image. He could always score but there was little else to his game. But now at age 28, the well-traveled Beasley is a sage on the Milwaukee bench, filled with stories — some funny, some positive, and others harrowing.
He has played a small role in the Bucks’ playoff series against the Raptors, and he is fine with that. He enjoys just being part of an NBA roster, taking nothing for granted.
“I’m just happy to be in the States,’’ said Beasley, who spent time playing in the Chinese Basketball Association. “We’ve definitely got a chance to do something special. These young guys work.’’
The NBA is filled with players such as the Celtics’ Gerald Green, whose arrogance and lack of skill development hindered their careers. They had to head elsewhere to keep playing professionally, and now they are back in the NBA, grateful for the second chance.
It’s difficult to digest when, as a rising prospect you are first told you’re destined for NBA stardom, and later discover the league doesn’t need players like you. Beasley and Green had to work on off-court maturity as well as polishing their games to stick around.
“I feel like I took two years off the game going to China,’’ Beasley said. “Most of the times I’m just excited to be here, anxious to learn, to get better. I honestly feel like a young guy still. It’s a good feeling, a weird feeling, an unusual feeling being nine years in the NBA.
“Once you’ve accepted not being in the NBA, accepting anything coming with being in the NBA is easy as well. It just feels good to be seen, feels good to be noticed. If it’s a role off the bench, a starting role, to be a locker-room guy, to hold my head in a bucket of ice for entertainment for the team, being part of the culture, means a lot to me.’’
Beasley talked about the Bucks’ young roster, including superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo.
“I don’t think these young guys even realize what the term ‘dislike’ means,’’ Beasley said. “I don’t even think they know if they like themselves yet. Us being young and naïve to what’s going on in the world helps that factor. It’s a young vibing group, a smart group. It’s fun to be part of this process.’’
Beasley relishes his opportunity to be a veteran leader.
“Seven teams in nine years, three countries, I’ve got a lot to say,’’ he said. “I’ve seen a lot. I tell people all the time, a guy can be smart or a guy can have just seen a lot. What’s the difference between a genius and a guy that’s seen the whole world? Not to call myself a genius, but I’ve seen a lot and experienced a lot and it taught me a lot.
“I’m able to share the do’s and don’ts and the parts that I think deterred my success and to help the young guys not make the same mistakes.’’
Beasley has had issues with marijuana, starting with being fined during the rookie transition program just weeks into his career.
“We all make mistakes, but were the people judging me fair in how they judged me? No,’’ he said. “I got in trouble three times — after the first or second time you have to start blaming it on the common denominator.
“That’s what I had to realize. I know I’m not as bad as people think, but when you go through something, you’ve got to realize you’re the common denominator. I came to the realization I’ve got to change myself, the way I think, the way I act, who I talk to because no matter what the situation is, I was always the common denominator. I just had to change my approach to life.’’
Layups
The NBA has loosened its stance on uniforms during the playoffs, allowing teams to wear alternate jerseys in the postseason. In the first round, Milwaukee and Houston have worn black jerseys at home, while the Bulls wore their black-sleeved jerseys in both games in Boston. For years, the NBA stressed that teams wear their conventional jerseys during playoff games, even fining the Cavaliers for wearing their cranberry-colored throwbacks in the final game of the 2010 Eastern Conference semifinals against the Celtics . . . One rising player to watch in the draft is center Ike Anigbogu, who averaged just 4.7 points and 4 rebounds for UCLA this season. The 6-foot-10-inch freshman played just 13 minutes per game; he was buried behind TJ Leaf and Thomas Welsh in the rotation. But what will sell Anigbogu is his build — he already has an NBA body — and his potential to be a defensive force in the paint. He blocked 35 shots in 377 minutes played, third on the team. Meanwhile, if you’re looking for a draft sleeper, keep an eye on South Carolina’s Sindarius Thornwell, whose stock rose during the Gamecocks’ NCAA Tournament run. The issue is Thornwell is 22, which may scare some teams from drafting him in the first round. Milwaukee’s Malcolm Brogdon faced the same concerns last year and fell to the second round because he was nearly 24. But he is the likely NBA Rookie of the Year and starting for a playoff team. There is a glut of one-and-dones who have entered the draft this season, so there will be some valuable players who drop to the second round . . . After being waived by the Bulls, R.J. Hunter finished his season with the Long Island Nets of the NBADL, where he averaged 18.2 points and 2.6 rebounds in 29 games. Hunter has to improve his shooting to become a productive NBA player. His best bet to land on an NBA roster again is to get a summer league invitation, followed by a training camp invite.
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GwashburnGlobe. Material from interviews, wire services, other beat writers, and league and team sources was used in this report.
