The Truth doesn't want to share his night

sezwho

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Because he left here having, in both my opinion and his own, disgraced the Celtics with his effort. What people love about IT is that he left everything on the floor even in spite of horrific off court situations and debilitating pain, and I find Rondo's efforts to belittle IT4's contribution petty at best and cruel at worst. Rondo should just shut up and go back to reviewing his postage stamp collection from the last couple years 'playing' for the Celtics.

http://www.espn.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/12112693/rajon-rondo-dallas-mavericks-admits-effort-defense-there-recent-seasons

...edited to add that he was the one who said he didn't try, I was the one who said its disgraceful.
 
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reggiecleveland

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As I get older, I worry less how things end. Rondo was a key guy in a title. It takes a Schillingesque ongoing string of negatives to move my needle on a guy. Part of what makes these guys get to where they are got is the edge that tells them they are better than others. Rondo should keep his mouth shut, but how can anybody be surprised he backs Pierce, and sees winning a title putting him over IT.

Look at what Fultz is going through. Rondo was a nonshooter that had the mental toughness to make it to All star game 4 times. That type of fire does not go out.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Because he left here having, in both my opinion and his own, disgraced the Celtics with his effort. What people love about IT is that he left everything on the floor even in spite of horrific off court situations and debilitating pain, and I find Rondo's efforts to belittle IT4's contribution petty at best and cruel at worst. Rondo should just shut up and go back to reviewing his postage stamp collection from the last couple years 'playing' for the Celtics.

http://www.espn.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/12112693/rajon-rondo-dallas-mavericks-admits-effort-defense-there-recent-seasons

...edited to add that he was the one who said he didn't try, I was the one who said its disgraceful.
I’m really not seeing how that reflects on his comments on this. He’s backing his ex teammate, which he should. Would you have preferred he said he didn’t think it was a big deal and PP should shut up? He was asked the question, that was the best possible answer in my opinion. A ‘no comment’ isn’t flying in that situation. I understand you’re frustrations with him when he wore green and I share them but you’re conflating two different things. And you’re letting your bias show. I fully understand what IT brought to the team and what he went through, but bottom line he was here 2.5 seasons and didn’t do anything. Rondo is right. These stupid videos are overly gratuitous to begin with, it shouldn’t be on PP night.
 

RetractableRoof

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As we'd guessed, IT made the issue go away and with a simple statement. I hope his next non-Pierce night in town, the Cs show a (the?) video for him. Gratuitous or not it is the new standard for a player that is appreciated by his former team - Crowder got his the night IT turned his down.

As to Rondo, I think that's the same view on things many other blunt former Celtic title holders would have. I can see Bird feeling the same way - "let's worry about it when you've won a title" - whether Bird would voice it to the media is another matter.

Edit: And I consider myself fortunate to be a fan of a team with a legacy that encourages celebrating titles versus participation trophies.
 

sezwho

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Rondo was the man during that Championship run and I'm not taking that away from him. Watching him come back from a dislocated elbow after Wade's reprehensible 'play' was otherworldly as well.

I’m really not seeing how that reflects on his comments on this. He’s backing his ex teammate, which he should.
He can 'back his ex-teammate' without denigrating the contributions of IT. He chose to do so, and sure my bias affects the intensity of my reaction. I'm not one of those people insisting Hanley blow out a hammy sprinting to 1st on a dropped third strike, but Rondo's sustained loafing did change how I view his Celtic career.

Rondo is right. These stupid videos are overly gratuitous to begin with, it shouldn’t be on PP night.
Now I feel like you are the one conflating Rondo's takedown of IT with whether PP gets a night to himself. Rondo is wrong, IT does deserve a video tribute. Yes, they are overly gratuitous but no more than your observation that they are overly gratuitous. Yes, it shouldn't be on PP night, which I agree with and so does nearly everyone. That has nothing to do with a gratuitous crushing of IT's time in a Celtics jersey, which he wore with pride and Rondo eventually to cheapen.
 

InstaFace

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Jackie Mac put an article up earlier today about this, with more quotes, including Rondo's and from Tony Allen.

"Danny and I talked about it for 40 minutes," Pierce explained to ESPN early Tuesday afternoon. "He told me, 'This is what we have planned,' and at the end of the conversation, he said, 'If you don't want us to do Isaiah, we won't.' So I told him, 'I really don't.' So that was it.

"That's how we left it."

...Earlier in the day, before Thomas' tweet, Pierce explained why he objected to plans to honor Thomas on Feb. 11.

"(Thomas) had a shot to be honored," Pierce said. "You came to Boston. Whether you are playing or not, you should have had your tribute then. I just don't see how, if someone is having a jersey retirement, they're going to be running other tributes for other players.

"Danny tried to sell me on it, but I told him, 'He had a shot, Danny, and he punked you on it. He pretty much dictated everything.' They let it happen because they felt sorry how (the trade to Cleveland) went down. It's guilt. That's what it is."
Ainge said Tuesday night that Thomas intended all along to bow out of the video tribute once he learned of Pierce's reservations. He also said when he and Thomas' agent, Aaron Goodwin, first discussed an alternate date for a Thomas tribute, which was originally scheduled for Jan. 3, neither of them realized the next time the Cavaliers came to town would be the night that Pierce was being honored.
(bolded because that point was in question earlier in the thread)

And finally, the KG quote that is 100% pure KG:

Pierce conceded that he gave his position some additional thought after his objections to a joint tribute made headlines. He says he consulted his agent, his wife, his mother and Garnett.

"Everyone understood where I was coming from," Pierce said. "KG was like, 'Isaiah who? Hell no, you're damn right you're not sharing your night with him.'"
The bride analogy is spot on. They'll find another time to give Thomas his moment in the sun - which I do feel he deserves, regardless of the mix-up over this.
 

Papelbon's Poutine

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Rondo was the man during that Championship run and I'm not taking that away from him. Watching him come back from a dislocated elbow after Wade's reprehensible 'play' was otherworldly as well.



He can 'back his ex-teammate' without denigrating the contributions of IT. He chose to do so, and sure my bias affects the intensity of my reaction. I'm not one of those people insisting Hanley blow out a hammy sprinting to 1st on a dropped third strike, but Rondo's sustained loafing did change how I view his Celtic career.



Now I feel like you are the one conflating Rondo's takedown of IT with whether PP gets a night to himself. Rondo is wrong, IT does deserve a video tribute. Yes, they are overly gratuitous but no more than your observation that they are overly gratuitous. Yes, it shouldn't be on PP night, which I agree with and so does nearly everyone. That has nothing to do with a gratuitous crushing of IT's time in a Celtics jersey, which he wore with pride and Rondo eventually to cheapen.
I’m not conflating anything. As you say, it shouldn’t be on the same night and we pretty much all agree on that. (Frankly I don’t think he necessarily needs one, but sure, on another night no big deal.) But there is something of a standard to being honored by the Celtics. They’re the most storied NBA franchise and despite Rondo’s antics, he did in fact contribute to a ring. I fully grasp how mercurial and frustrating he was, that he could have been much more etc. but end of day, he contributed a lot more to the franchise than IT did in his 2.5 seasons here, which culminated with the team getting trounced in conference finals. He was fun, he played with his heart on his jersey, he ponied up through personal issues, through injuries. I respect all that and enjoyed him. I wish him well in returning to that level and hope he does. But Rondo got asked a question - just as KG did - and responded in a way that speaks to the standard of the team, whether he lived up to it 100% or not. I don’t read it as gratuitously denigrating IT, I read it as respect for PP and what he meant and accomplished. But to each their own, I guess I can see how you’d possibly take it like that. I just think you’re letting your frustrations with Rondo cloud you. Anyway, everything seems to be cleared up and this all should have been a non issue if the marketing guy had looked at a calendar when they rescheduled.
 

Reverend

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On some level, might it not be the worst thing in the world for the organization to have all these guys identifying as Celtic4Lyfe and fighting over what Pride in the Green really means?

Like, on a scale of severity of problems to have, this seems fairly awesome. I’d love to know what Danny secretly thinks of all this.
 

Devizier

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Yeah, good problem to have.

Ainge made a mistake, caused a very minor kerfuffle, which allowed Paul Pierce's present-day colleagues to razz him a little.
 

RetractableRoof

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Agree with him or not you gotta respect Jalen Rose calling Pierce petty to his face instead of on Twitter or elsewhere
Two things come to mind there just in terms of the source: 1) he bounced around 6 teams and clashed with various coaches. Maybe he knows a thing or two about petty. 2) What has he done that has a pro team retiring his jersey?

That said, it is a tad petty imo, but it was unfortunate that he was put in a situation where he looked bad for just wanting his moment in the sun to be a solo one.
 

Schnerres

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I don´t understand why PP cannot give 30 seconds or 2 minutes of warmup tribute to IT.
I didn´t understood it at first, then I read the "bride" comments. Okay, so he only has this once in a lifetime and it is only about him. But...it isn´t. The 20000 people are coming (at least paying) to watch an NBA game. And actually, the Celtics could lose, which could somehow sour this marriage-feeling. There are a ton of other things going on. And it´s not like at a marriage where the bride is the focus of attention the entire day.
I don´t get it. That´s not meant as a strike on PP. But if you see the news everywhere, this seems a huge drama now. And he could have been nice and offered a pregame warmup tribute.
 

allstonite

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I don't know where you get your news but it's nowhere close to a huge drama. It was a minor story a few weeks ago when it popped up and there were a few stories yesterday when Isaiah said he'd put his tribute off. Most of the media I've come across has touched on it briefly in a passing manner or joked about it because of how silly it is.

Most people agree it's petty of Pierce and it probably is but he's the best Celtic of the past 25 years and deserves his own night. Most of those 20,000 people are paying for tickets to be at the Paul Pierce jersey retirement plus a basketball games. It's also against the other blockbuster Eastern Conference team so it's tough to tell the exact reason but tickets on StubHub are 3-6x higher than what other home games are going for.

tldr: it is silly and petty but Pierce is the one guy from his generation who deserves it
 

allstonite

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If you get your news in places not called Boston, it is pretty universal thinking in that Pierce is acting like a whiner in all of this
1) That was replying to the post that said it was a "huge drama." I'd call it more of a "minor side story" even in Boston.
2) I understand that a lot of people think that (I do too but it doesn't bother me) but I wouldn't say it's universal. A few of the Ringer NBA people (Chris and Juliet so not Boston) took Pierce's side and think that Isaiah is taking all this too far. They said he has reason to be mad about the trade but he continues to bring it up almost every week and make it a story and it's getting tired. It was interesting because they also said they're huge fans of him
 

Spelunker

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As a data point (and someone not in Boston) I've only heard of it on this thread. I'm sure it's been on ESPN at some point, but not that I've noticed
 

the moops

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As a data point (and someone not in Boston) I've only heard of it on this thread. I'm sure it's been on ESPN at some point, but not that I've noticed
Deadspin, Bleacher Report, ESPN, USA Today, etc. have all covered it. It is a story - and a contrasting data point from someone who is also not in Boston :)
 

Eddie Jurak

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On some level, might it not be the worst thing in the world for the organization to have all these guys identifying as Celtic4Lyfe and fighting over what Pride in the Green really means?

Like, on a scale of severity of problems to have, this seems fairly awesome. I’d love to know what Danny secretly thinks of all this.
Yes! The worst part about this is the criticisms both players have received.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Pierce may not wanted to have shared his night but Antoine brought two of himself in case anyone wanted to share him. OMG
 

tbrown_01923

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Quote of the night in my house from the wife: "Is that Big Baby sitting next to KG and Rondo?"
I was at the game and my wife "Geesh Big Baby looks horrible". "I agree, and thats not big baby thats 'toine!" WTF happened to him - he needs to take better care of himself.
 

The Needler

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Why is his handle "tray four"? Oh and also, someone is bitter they didn't get invited.
Because his name is Ray (not Rey), and 34 was his number in college (and probably high school and AAU) and on three of the four NBA teams he played on.

It was also Jesus Shuttlesworth's number.