Rajon Rondo, Rick Carlisle got into heated exchange outside locker room too

Rajon Rondo was suspended a game by the team for his profanity-laced exchange with Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle during Tuesday’s game.

Rondo could be seen ignoring his coach’s instructions for a play call, and then the point guard cursed at his coach after Carlisle called a timeout. Rondo was benched after that and did not re-enter the game, which the Mavs won.

On Wednesday, the team announced that they had suspended Rondo for the team’s game against the Hawks later that night. ESPN Dallas also reports that Rondo got into a heated exchange with Carlisle outside the team’s locker room following the game.

The root of tension between the two reportedly stems from a conflict over who calls the plays. Carlisle reportedly does the bulk of it, while Rondo would like to do more, which could explain why he ignored his coach at one point.

Despite their problems, Carlisle spoke Wednesday about Rondo’s importance to the team.

“Our efforts to get to the highest possible level largely hinge on him playing and playing well. The incident last night was born in large part from poor communication between he and I, and that’s on both of us,” Carlisle said via Mavs reporter Earl K. Snead. “We had a long talk today, and we both agreed that we need to communicate more frequently. I need to say this very clearly: he is an extremely important part of our team. He needs to play well with us, and we need to play well with him. It’s a two-way street. We need to work on the solution for making his stint in as a Dallas Maverick the most successful one possible.”

It is widely known that Rondo is a headcase, which is why the Celtics were willing to trade him. The Mavs knew exactly what they were getting into when they acquired him. He’s such a talented player that you have to work with him as much as possible and just hope that the team is not negatively effected.