Update: Adrian Wojnarowski of The Vertical and K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune are reporting that the suspension was for Rondo snapping at the coaching staff. He has reportedly since apologized and accepted the punishment:
Rajon Rondo — suspended for tonight's game — had a "heated exchange" with a Bulls assistant in Mavericks loss, sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) December 5, 2016
Rondo apologized to the coach and accepted responsibility in the aftermath of Bulls suspension, league sources tell @TheVertical.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) December 5, 2016
Original Story Follows:
The Chicago Bulls are suspending point guard Rajon Rondo for Monday’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers. According to the team, the short suspension is a result of “conduct detrimental to the team.” ESPN’s Marc Spears was the first to report:
The Bulls say guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended by the Bulls for one game, tonight versus Portland, for conduct detrimental to the team.
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) December 5, 2016
This is another in a long line of transgressions by Rondo. While he seemingly appeared to be enjoying his new situation – the Bulls are currently a surprising 11-8 – that does not seem to keep him from hurting his team somehow.
There is currently no word on what Rondo did to earn this suspension. However, he has had routine issues with his head coaches over the years. One could assume with a decent chance of being correct that this stems from some sort of disagreement with Fred Hoiberg.
Of course, Rondo not playing is not necessarily a bad thing for the Bulls who have been better with their starting point guard off the court. In fact, one could argue that Rajon Rondo’s conduct detrimental to the team is whatever he does on the basketball court.
For now, we will have to wait and see how this latest issue for Rondo and the Bulls will affect the team as a whole. The Bulls are a volatile team on the court, recently winning against the Cavaliers before losing to the Mavericks. Any chemistry issues could throw off that balance.
