The Chicago Bulls have issued a one-game suspension on Rajon Rondo due to a heated altercation he had with assistant coach Jim Boylen on Saturday. This means Rondo will not be able to join the team when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers on Monday night.
The incident between Rondo and Boylen happened during the Bulls' loss against the Dallas Mavericks. Rondo, who performed badly that night with five turnovers and only two points, was spotted having a verbal exchange with the assistant coach. Some sources even saw Rondo throw a towel at Boylen's direction.
Following the incident, the Chicago organization decided to slap Rondo with a suspension for "conduct detrimental to the team." In a statement, head coach Fred Hoiberg explained that Rondo was made aware of his penalty through a meeting.
"Rajon will be suspended for tonight's game for conduct detrimental to the team," he said according to ESPN. "He and I met, had a good meeting. He'll meet us at the plane tonight; he'll be back in uniform against Detroit and moving forward."
"As far as the details, I'm not going to get in the details of it," Hoiberg added. "We're going to move past it, and again, he'll be back in uniform tomorrow."
The altercation stemming from Rondo probably didn't come as a surprise to his fans especially since the point guard has been known to get involved in locker room issues. In fact, this is reportedly one of the reasons that drove him out of the Sacramento Kings.
But, despite what happened between him and Boylen, the Chicago Tribune reported that he had already apologized to his teammates and the staff members of the Bulls. Fellow guard Jimmy Butler noted that he still supports Rondo and believes that he was able to handle the situation well.
"This is just another bump in the road," Butler said. "He's a phenomenal d*mn teammate and I back him on everything. These things happen, and when things happen, you handle it the way you're supposed to handle it."
"I think we all love Rondo," he added. "I know I do. He's been a great mentor to me [and] he's made me a much better player."
