Rajon Rondo fined $25,000 for trying to trip Jae Crowder
Did Rajon Rondo try to trip Jae Crowder from the bench during the Bulls’ Game 3 loss to the Celtics?
The NBA certainly believes so. And they’re fining Rondo $25,000 for the incident, the league’s basketball operations vice president, Kiki VanDeWeghe, announced Sunday.
The attempted trip came after Crowder hit a baseline jumper during the first quarter of the Celtics’ 104-87 win Friday and reportedly jawed at the the Bulls bench.
Rajon Rondo is sidelined with a thumb injury, but his legs seem to be working fine 🤔 pic.twitter.com/RLukiBAFuC
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 22, 2017
It wasn’t the first time Rondo appeared to kick out at an opposing player from the bench.
Rondo, who was sat out the game with a broken right thumb, denied trying to trip the Celtics forward. According to injured guard, he was stretching out his knee, as he said he regularly does during games.
“When you tear an ACL, your leg gets stiff on you once in a while,” he said during a postgame interview Friday, referring to the 2013 injury he sustained while playing for the Celtics.
The NBA was apparently unconvinced by that explanation. The league announced the five-figure fine just hours before Game 4 tips off Sunday evening in Chicago.
The eighth-seeded Bulls lead the No. 1-seed Celtics 2-1 in the first-round playoff series. Rondo is not expected to play for at least another week due to his thumb injury.
