Now we know the real story behind Rajon Rondo's failure in Dallas

You could cut the tension in this picture with a knife.

Via The Dallas Morning News, Dirk Nowitzki was asked if he ever played Connect Four with Rajon Rondo:

I did not, but I saw him get beat though. Before the game, one of his first games, one of the Mavs' employees brought a Connect Four over and it was just sitting there. I think Charlie V [Villanueva] played him one time real quick. I walked by, it was before the game and everyone has their routines, and I walk by and Charlie put the last one in to beat him. So it was like a melee back there. They were yelling and screaming. And I was like, 'What's going on here? It's gameday. We have a game in less than an hour. That was huge for Charlie. He let Rondo hear that for the next couple of weeks for sure.

Who knows what happened that day.  Maybe Rondo was playing multiple Connect Four games at once.  Maybe he was planning his next triple-double.  Maybe he was looking up Pinterest recipes on his phone.  For whatever reason, Rondo clearly wasn't focused during this particular Connect Four matchup with Villanueva.

Regardless, WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING CHARLIE VILLANUEVA!?!

You don't beat a genius at the very thing he's the most genius at when he's your team's new starting point guard.  That's like writing a better symphony than Beethoven, then asking him to come over and play the piano at your cocktail party.  How could anybody expect Rondo to perform with the Mavericks after suffering such humiliation?  I'm surprised he even showed up at all after that.



Follow Mark Vandeusen on Twitter @LucidSportsFan