Ainge has talk with Rondo about controlling his temper

President of basketball operations Danny Ainge said he had a private conversation with Rondo regarding his third suspension in nine months, and he understands that Rondo’s temper and passion won’t change.

“Rondo and I talked and I think Rondo is not happy with the fact that he’s not there on this team in the next two games,” Ainge said Friday. “I think that’s the most important thing. Rondo’s a very emotional player, he’s a tough competitor. And I think he realizes that it’s more important to play.”

When asked about Rondo’s growing reputation as a volatile player, Ainge said: “I think [three suspensions in nine months] is high. I just hope the next nine months is better.

“Hey, listen, it’s not good. There’s nothing good about it but I love the kid, he’s a competitor, he’s a warrior, and he needs to be in control, and I’m confident he will.

“If it happens once in the next nine months, then maybe that’s progress instead of three times. I don’t expect that Rondo’s going to play the rest of his career and not go over the line emotionally. I guess I’m OK with that, just going to learn from it.”

I actually think the "fight" with the Nets might end up being good for the Celtics. Doc was able to challenge the guys that they were playing "soft" and that a fight didn't change that. The Celtics are now getting a chance to play without Rajon Rondo for a couple games, which they sort of needed, since they have sucked whenever he's gone to the bench. Already we say Courtney Lee step up last night. Also the team seemed to step up on behalf of their "brother" by increasing their effort last night. I think when your best player and leader shows he has your back it has a positive effect.

A couple games off in the long run is not a bad thing for Rondo as his minutes have been higher than Doc originally planned. Greg Popavich likes to sit his stars on occasion in San Antonio to keep them fresh. In a way this allows Doc to do the same (and he doesn't get fined for it!). Sports betting odds are pretty high that KG will get a day off at some point this season from a suspension. Kidding aside, I agree with Ainge that Rondo needs to check his temper a bit. Suspensions in the regular season are one thing, but in the playoffs they can be deadly to a team. Also the more times that Rondo gets into these incidents the longer rap sheet the NBA has on him and eventually they'll give him a more severe punishment based on all his "priors."

Rondo has said he's tired of being the team's enforcer (Doc isn't fond of it either). He shouldn't have to be. No other NBA superstars are team enforcers. you take the good with the bad with Rondo, because the former far outweighs the latter, but yeah Ainge is right that Rondo could serve the team better by checking his temper a bit.