Rajon Rondo on exchange with coach: 'Everything is back to normal now'
Dallas Mavericks point guard Rajon Rondo on Friday addressed the heated exchange he had with coach Rick Carlisle during Tuesday's game against the Toronto Raptors.
Rondo did not re-enter the game after the exchange, which occurred early in the third quarter.
"It’s an emotional game and we had a difference of opinion," Carlisle told reporters after the game. "There was an exchange, and then, in my mind, it was over. ... Once it was over, it was over."
The Mavericks on Wednesday suspended Rondo one game for conduct detrimental to the team. With Rondo sidelined, the Mavericks fell to the Atlanta Hawks.
After practice on Friday, Rondo said "everything is back to normal now," according to a report from ESPNDallas.com. From the report:
"I just got built-up frustration," said Rondo, who has had a couple of long individual meetings with Carlisle since their blowup. "I take a lot of the blame for what I've been doing on the court, but just a little frustrated. The most important thing is communication with Coach. I've talked to a lot of the coaches, I've talked to a lot of staff members.
"Coach and I, when I first got here, we were talking a lot and watching film after every game. He's backed off a little bit with the addition of Amar'e [Stoudemire], trying to help get him up to speed. Our communication was great at first. Not that it wasn't so great, but it's just that we weren't communicating enough. That shouldn't be the case the rest of the season."
[...]
"I'm going to do what's best for the team and play my heart out for these next 22, 23 games that we have left and make a run in the playoffs," said Rondo, a free agent this summer. "I think we have a great chance to win a championship. That's my main focus. I'm going to continue to work to get better and do what's best to lead this team."
The Mavericks acquired Rondo in a December trade with the Boston Celtics. In 25 games with Dallas, he has averaged 9.0 points, 6.2 assists and 4.5 rebounds in 28.2 minutes per game.
The Mavericks (39-21), which currently own the No. 5 seed in the Western Conference, host the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday.
