During the final seconds of Tuesday night’s game between the Boston Celtics and Miami Heat, Rajon Rondo was called for a flagrant foul after he grabbed Dwyane Wade from behind by the shoulders and neck. The foul was unneccesary considering the Celtics were trailing by nine and there was virtually no way they were going to come back. Wade was not pleased about it after the game.
“I got my kids watching so I stopped myself but it was a punk play by him,” Wade said according to Brian Windhorst of ESPN.com. “He clotheslined me.
“I’m here to play basketball, man. If you want to do something else, then go do something else. Boxing, this is not it. I was glad I was able to stop myself in that very moment and move on from it. We’ll see next time we play.”
Windhorst also said Wade indicated he will remember the play when the two teams face each other again in late January and wouldn’t rule out retaliating. While Rondo certainly wasn’t going for the ball and the foul was out of line, it’s not the hardest foul we have ever seen. The play was made out of frustration but it wasn’t as bad as Wade is making it out to be.
We already knew the Heat and Celtics didn’t like each other, as evidenced by Kevin Garnett completely snubbing Ray Allen toward the beginning of the game. Rondo’s flagrant on Wade simply adds fuel to an already-roaring blaze.
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