Bulls Suspend Rajon Rondo For 1 Game For 'Conduct Detrimental To The Team'
(CBS) The Bulls have suspended starting point guard Rajon Rondo for one game for "conduct detrimental to the team," they announced Monday morning. He won't play in the evening's home game against the Trail Blazers.
The Bulls didn't reveal the nature of Rondo's actions to get suspended, but The Vertical's Adrian Wojnarowski reported he had a heated exchange with an assistant coach. Rondo has since apologized and had a meeting with coach Fred Hoiberg on Sunday.
His absence comes at a time when the Bulls are already short-handed, as backup guard Michael Carter-Williams continues to be sidelined with a wrist injury and forward Doug McDermott is recovering from a concussion. Second-year pro Jerian Grant will start at point guard for the Bulls, Hoiberg said.
Rondo is averaging 8.2 points, 7.2 assists and 6.7 rebounds this season in 17 games, all starts. In Chicago's ugly 107-82 loss at Dallas on Saturday night, he had two points on 1-of-4 shooting, two assists and five turnovers.
Rondo has a history of run-ins in past stops, notably in 2014-'15 when he was a Maverick and butted heads with coach Rick Carlisle. He was suspended one game by the Mavericks in February 2015 for "conduct detrimental to the team," then finished his Dallas tenure in a cloud of frustration. The Mavericks were so fed up with Rondo's antics by the end of that season that they manufactured an injury excuse to give to the public when they decided to keep him out of their final three playoff games of that year, according to multiple reports.