Chicago Bulls stars Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler called out their teammates for a lack of passion and fire after their loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night, and in a blistering rebuke, Rajon Rondo returned fire on Thursday afternoon.
In a post on his Instagram feed, Rondo posted a picture of former Boston Celtics teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce and talked about how much differently that group of veterans would have handled a loss like Wednesday’s defeat:
Here is the full text of Rondo’s scorched-Earth post:
“My vets would never go to the media. They would come to the team. My vets didn’t pick and choose when they wanted to bring it. They brought it every time they stepped in the gym whether it was practice or a game. They didn’t take days off. My vets didn’t care about their numbers. My vets played for the team. When we lost, they wouldn’t blame us. They took responsibility and got in the gym. They showed the young guys what it meant to work. Even in Boston when we had the best record in the league, if we lost a game, you could hear a pin drop on the bus. They showed us the seriousness of the game. My vets didn’t have an influence on the coaching staff. They couldn’t change the plan because it didn’t work for them. I played under one of the greatest coaches, and he held everyone accountable. It takes 1-15 to win. When you isolate everyone, you can’t win consistently. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not a bad teammate. My goal is to pass what I learned along. The young guys work. They show up. They don’t deserve blame. If anything is questionable, it’s the leadership.”
Needless to say, things are quickly spiraling out of control for the Bulls, and it will be fascinating to see what the front office, and head coach Fred Hoiberg, are going to do with teammates that are now openly sniping at each other in the media and on social media networks.
