Rajon Rondo breaks hand, has surgery, out indefinitely

[NL41]

What the..

I was generally curious to see if I was going to be dead wrong and if 'super Rondo' was going to make an appearance. I think the good news is this injury won't really effect him that much. You can even practice shooting with your right hand and dribbling and such...

Yeah I don't think Rondo's shooting will drop off much with a broken hand.

[KGboss]

Well the silver lining is

1. This wasn't his shooting hand.
2. It's only 6-8 weeks. He will be back between November 7th - November 21st.

He misses the start of the season but it'll give Smart a lot of burn. Might even keep Young out of Maine for a month.

Not really horrible news....not great either...

Lets just see how this unfolds.....

[ballup]

Slipped in the shower...



He lost in connect 4 and raged

Bet his daughter beat him.

[NL41]

Well the silver lining is

1. This wasn't his shooting hand.
2. It's only 6-8 weeks. He will be back between November 7th - November 21st.

He misses the start of the season but it'll give Smart a lot of burn. Might even keep Young out of Maine for a month.

Not really horrible news....not great either...

Lets just see how this unfolds.....

Yeah, a lot of the tension that might have threatened the locker room has been alleviated for 6-8 weeks. We don't have to worry about Thornton and Wallace getting grumpy, and James Young not being developed.

I'd say that's a pretty big silver lining.

[KGboss]

Well the silver lining is

1. This wasn't his shooting hand.
2. It's only 6-8 weeks. He will be back between November 7th - November 21st.

He misses the start of the season but it'll give Smart a lot of burn. Might even keep Young out of Maine for a month.

Not really horrible news....not great either...

Lets just see how this unfolds.....

Yeah, a lot of the tension that might have threatened the locker room has been alleviated for 6-8 weeks. We don't have to worry about Thornton and Wallace getting grumpy, and James Young not being developed.

I'd say that's a pretty big silver lining.

I could care less about Wallace. Thornton I hope gets plenty of burn as well. I see him being a large contributor this season with Smart off the bench even when Rondo returns.

I know you're an avid Rondo hater and your silver lining is him not being around...I know that's not the point I was making.

[SMTBSI]

Sooooo....

I gather this is the plan: We tank like we've never tanked before for the first couple weeks, burying ourselves as deep in the standings as possible, then Rondo comes back and makes us look semi-respectable for a bit, causing the rest of the league to view him more positively, and then he gets traded before he costs us too many losses? We get a respectable haul for Rondo and proceed to win the 2015 lottery.


Ok, that's the most optimistic contrived scenario I can think of.

[GuyClinch]

Yeah I don't think Rondo's shooting will drop off much with a broken hand.

Is that sarcastic? You can shoot well with one hand....... It's good practice. Do you even play hoops?

[pac213up]

Hey at least we got more 2nd rounds picks yesterday. The future is bright! Lol.

[NL41]

Yeah I don't think Rondo's shooting will drop off much with a broken hand.

Is that sarcastic? You can shoot well with one hand....... It's good practice. Do you even play hoops?

Yeah I play hoops. And I spent a full summer shooting with only one hand to switch from a two handed shot as a kid.

But Rondo can't really shoot either way, so I'm just saying this injury isn't a huge setback to his least favorite basketball skill.

[OFWGKTA]

Rondo was at a trampoline place yesterday, which is probably where he actually broke his hand. Not punching the wall in anger about Wyc's comments.

http://boston.barstoolsports.com/random ... line-park/

[ryaningf]

Ugh...what a terrible way to start a season.

I'm disappointed on so many levels, not only the injury and how it taints what was going to be a challenging season anyway but also how the Cs released the info. First of all, there was literally NO UPSIDE to releasing this NOW. Why not wait until Media Day on Monday, where you can get your story straight, get all the principals on record, be in the new cycle for 24 hours and by Tuesday with the first practice it's old news? But no, they release it on a Friday with an extremely suspect story of falling at home and then say "see you on Monday" basically creating a 3 day vacuum for all kinds of speculation to occur as to what exactly happened.

The #1 rule of PR is perception, not reality. It doesn't matter what happened, only how it will be perceived. The way this story was released by the Cs PR department, they're just asking the public to doubt its veracity, just asking them to pile one more negative story on the heap of negative Rondo stories. I mean, no matter whether he actually fell down in the shower or not, this is not the way to release it. All you do is invite speculation and doubt and then bam this happens:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamMKaufman/status/515692718518202368[/tweet]

And what could have been a 24 hr story if released on Monday when all the facts were in and all the germane parties heard from now becomes a 3 day **** of controversy and bad press and by bungling the framing of the story not only is it going to dominate the next 3 days, it's going to be there lingering for the rest of the season hanging over everyone's heads.

Teams need to protect their players, protect the team brand, and protect their assets and the Cs failed on all 3 counts today. That's even more disappointing that the broken hand because while that's an accident the way the story was released in the press is just plain bad PR by a group of business men that know better. Frame the narrative. Release info on your terms. Get your story straight.

I'm actually willing to believe he actually did fall down at home because in terms of excuses it's like the lease plausible one ever so if you were going to try to cover something up why would you use that excuse when it would be so easy so plausible that you broke it playing ball and didn't realize it till later in the night. But again it doesn't matter what happened it's how it's perceived and the Cs released this in a way that has everybody doubting it and that's just bad business.

[NL41]

Ugh...what a terrible way to start a season.

I'm disappointed on so many levels, not only the injury and how it taints what was going to be a challenging season anyway but also how the Cs released the info. First of all, there was literally NO UPSIDE to releasing this NOW. Why not wait until Media Day on Monday, where you can get your story straight, get all the principals on record, be in the new cycle for 24 hours and by Tuesday with the first practice it's old news? But no, they release it on a Friday with an extremely suspect story of falling at home and then say "see you on Monday" basically creating a 3 day vacuum for all kinds of speculation to occur as to what exactly happened.

The #1 rule of PR is perception, not reality. It doesn't matter what happened, only how it will be perceived. The way this story was released by the Cs PR department, they're just asking the public to doubt its veracity, just asking them to pile one more negative story on the heap of negative Rondo stories. I mean, no matter whether he actually fell down in the shower or not, this is not the way to release it. All you do is invite speculation and doubt and then bam this happens:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/AdamMKaufman/status/515692718518202368[/tweet]

And what could have been a 24 hr story if released on Monday when all the facts were in and all the germane parties heard from now becomes a 3 day **** of controversy and bad press and by bungling the framing of the story not only is it going to dominate the next 3 days, it's going to be there lingering for the rest of the season hanging over everyone's heads.

Teams need to protect their players, protect the team brand, and protect their assets and the Cs failed on all 3 counts today. That's even more disappointing that the broken hand because while that's an accident the way the story was released in the press is just plain bad PR by a group of business men that know better. Frame the narrative. Release info on your terms. Get your story straight.

I'm actually willing to believe he actually did fall down at home because in terms of excuses it's like the lease plausible one ever so if you were going to try to cover something up why would you use that excuse when it would be so easy so plausible that you broke it playing ball and didn't realize it till later in the night. But again it doesn't matter what happened it's how it's perceived and the Cs released this in a way that has everybody doubting it and that's just bad business.

It's called a Friday night dump in the PR industry. If they released it on a thursday the country would be talking about it at the water cooler and when checking the internet at work. People tend to be busy and less connected to the news on weekends, and also during the summer.

And they don't want the sports world to be flabbergasted on monday morning and talking about Rondo and the injury cover-up all week. This friday night dump dilutes the publicity a tiny bit.

[GuyClinch]

I don't think it's a big deal that he hurt his hand at trampoline park... It's very Rondo actually. I mean isn't it cool that basically no one thought he got in a fight. Rondo seems like a real good guy. I mean I kinda wanna go now...

[ryaningf]

It's called a Friday night dump in the PR industry. If they released it on a thursday the country would be talking about it at the water cooler and when checking the internet at work. People tend to be busy and less connected to the news on weekends, and also during the summer.

And they don't want the sports world to be flabbergasted on monday morning and talking about Rondo and the injury cover-up all week. This friday night dump dilutes the publicity a tiny bit.

You're missing the point, probably like the guys in the Celtic PR department did. There wouldn't have been a cover up on Monday. You get your story straight, get the 3 most important people in the organization to make comments about it, then you move on to Tuesday and it's not a story anymore. You release bad news on Friday, you don't try to cover things up on Friday with a lame cover story and invite 3 days of speculation until you take questions again. Doing so takes all that Friday night dumpiness and infuses in with a layer of coverup that creates buzz that gets people talking. The story isn't "Rondo breaks hand" the story is "Rondo breaks hand because of fall at home?...hmm...that sounds questionable".

In this instance, you want the story to be Rondo breaks hand. You present it in a way that nobody questions how it happened. Media Day is supposed to be the day of unlimited potential where everyone's a playoff team and in the best shape of their lives and going to have a career year and this guy's added a 3 point shot and this other guy got Lasik surgery so hey he can actually see now. One big day of optimism to sell the fans on your team. You slip Rondo's injury in there and sure it's disappointing but it comes along with a bunch of other fluff stories and you spin it by saying he'll only miss a couple games. By doing things the way the Cs did the entire story line for Media Day is "was there a coverup"? Brad, Danny, and Rondo are going to get nothing but trampoline questions, hell even Smart and Jeff Green and Bass are going to get Rondo questions and there'll be questions of who said he fell at home, did he hurt it on a trampoline, did Rondo lie to the Celtics, did the Celtics lie to the public, all kinds of distracting BS on the one day where you're supposed to be assured positive press. The Cs took all that automatic goodwill and pissed all over it because they don't know the goddamned first rule of PR--it's all about perception and not reality and right now the perception is they're trying to cover up how the injury occurred and that's like damn near the worst way to kick off your season and not only that they did it 3 days before Media Day. They look like a bunch of goddamned amateurs.

[NL41]

The Celtics didn't screw up because they did nothing wrong. If evidence shows Rondo was hurt on a trampoline, that's all on Rondo.

All the Celtics did was report what Rondo told them. And they did so in a timely fashion.

PR departments playing fast and loose with the facts are playing a dangerous game, especially in the modern world. Just ask NFL HQ if lying about RRice was a smart idea.

[ryaningf]

I don't think it's a big deal that he hurt his hand at trampoline park... It's very Rondo actually. I mean isn't it cool that basically no one thought he got in a fight. Rondo seems like a real good guy. I mean I kinda wanna go now...

Yes, it's very Rondo. But sadly the story is now going to be about who created this story of him falling at home. The coverup--or what appears to be a coverup--actually becomes a bigger badder story than the actual story of the injury.

That said, I expect he'll come back earlier than expected and still have a great year. It's a minor setback. But damn they could not have handled the role out of the story any worse than they did.

[soxfan2003]

Perhaps Rondo may be lying because using the trampoline is somehow against his contract as a risky activity. Maybe he even told the truth to the Celtics who told him to come up with another excuse/lie so they would all be criticized less.

This all being said, in a sense the trampoline suspected of causing the injury is ok in the grand scheme of things and far preferable to some of the alternatives. With all of these athletes getting in trouble and even Sullinger having a "minor incident", it's just good what happened to Rondo doesn't look like domestic violence or a fight of some sort.

I would cut him some slack on this one even if it was against his contract just because its the off-season -- It's not like Bird punching that guy before the playoffs! -- and it's not like the Celtics are playing for a championship this year.

The Boston media may talk about this a good deal but it's not that big of a deal from my perspective right now. Patriots should still dominate most of the talk.

[NL41]

It's called a Friday night dump in the PR industry. If they released it on a thursday the country would be talking about it at the water cooler and when checking the internet at work. People tend to be busy and less connected to the news on weekends, and also during the summer.

And they don't want the sports world to be flabbergasted on monday morning and talking about Rondo and the injury cover-up all week. This friday night dump dilutes the publicity a tiny bit.

You're missing the point, probably like the guys in the Celtic PR department did. There wouldn't have been a cover up on Monday. You get your story straight, get the 3 most important people in the organization to make comments about it, then you move on to Tuesday and it's not a story anymore. You release bad news on Friday, you don't try to cover things up on Friday with a lame cover story and invite 3 days of speculation until you take questions again. Doing so takes all that Friday night dumpiness and infuses in with a layer of coverup that creates buzz that gets people talking. The story isn't "Rondo breaks hand" the story is "Rondo breaks hand because of fall at home?...hmm...that sounds questionable".

In this instance, you want the story to be Rondo breaks hand. You present it in a way that nobody questions how it happened. Media Day is supposed to be the day of unlimited potential where everyone's a playoff team and in the best shape of their lives and going to have a career year and this guy's added a 3 point shot and this other guy got Lasik surgery so hey he can actually see now. One big day of optimism to sell the fans on your team. You slip Rondo's injury in there and sure it's disappointing but it comes along with a bunch of other fluff stories and you spin it by saying he'll only miss a couple games. By doing things the way the Cs did the entire story line for Media Day is "was there a coverup"? Brad, Danny, and Rondo are going to get nothing but trampoline questions, hell even Smart and Jeff Green and Bass are going to get Rondo questions and there'll be questions of who said he fell at home, did he hurt it on a trampoline, did Rondo lie to the Celtics, did the Celtics lie to the public, all kinds of distracting BS on the one day where you're supposed to be assured positive press. The Cs took all that automatic goodwill and pissed all over it because they don't know the goddamned first rule of PR--it's all about perception and not reality and right now the perception is they're trying to cover up how the injury occurred and that's like damn near the worst way to kick off your season and not only that they did it 3 days before Media Day. They look like a bunch of goddamned amateurs.

No. The Celtics don't need to "get their story straight" and stick to it. It's not their story, it's not their problem. It's Rondo's problem, and if Rondo lied about how he got hurt, that's on him. You're suggesting the Celtics should act deceptively, but they didn't do anything wrong to be deceptive about it.

Rondo's the idiot here, and he will face the media circus because of his own lies and poor judgment, and arguably selfish behavior in risking injury like that.

The Celtics don't need to go juggling other people's lies.

[StojkoVrankovic]

Connect Four, roller skating, trampolines, and cornhole

No wonder nobody likes him

[NL41]

If the Celtics were in the business of cleaning up messes for Rondo and engaging in coverups for him, they wouldn't go calling him super stubborn and uncoachable on television.

All the Celtics did was report what Rondo told them. No smoke there until we see evidence that they knowingly lied.