Rajon Rondo became the final player eliminated from the U.S. roster ahead of the FIBA World Championships on Tuesday. But it’s unclear, did he really withdraw or was he indeed cut?
“Rajon came to us and said he was going to withdraw from the team, that he had some family matters to attend to and some things to take care of before the NBA season,” USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo said in a statement. “He did an outstanding job during our training, we appreciate the effort and commitment he made to our program and he completely has our support.”
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That’s not what Rondo said to ESPN after he didn’t play against Spain on Sunday.
“I think I’m on the bubble,” Rondo told ESPN. “Just looking at the obvious — I got a DNP [did not play] last game. That pretty much speaks for itself.”
Rondo’s DNP-CD (did not play – coach’s decision), which he said was his first since his NBA rookie year, came after a poor outing against Lithuania. In addition, the U.S. team has plenty of depth at guard, and Rondo’s turnovers and lousy shooting from the field and free throw line were working against him.
Still, perhaps the timing of his withdrawal was coincidental.
But if Colangelo and head coach Mike Krzyzewski can’t simply cut Rondo without fearing repercussions the next time they want to invite him to camp, maybe they need to think about whether Rondo needs to be in the player pool at all.
