Rondo watched from the sidelines as J.J. Barea ran the offense of the Dallas Mavericks in Games 3, 4 and 5 with the Houston Rockets. It was clearly a coach statement on how insignificant he has become in the Mavericks’ rotation, short of saying that he is no longer wanted in the team, notes Yahoo! Sports.
The Mavericks did say that his absence from the last three games was because of a back injury but Rondo was suited up during those matches. Meaning, he can play because he has showed time and again that he is the type of player who can play through injuries. Eventually it becomes clear that the back injury was merely a ruse and was actually synonymous with benching.
Rondo is obviously on his way to the Lakers and shall finally give in to the lure of playing alongside Kobe Bryant. As to whether he would clash with Lakers coach Byron Scott sooner or later is already a different story.