Wade And Rondo Start NBA Season With Cheap Shots And Trash Talk [Video]
The 2012 NBA Season tipped off last night and there is already bad blood boiling between the Boston Celtics and the Miami Heat. In addition to the whole Ray Allen fiasco, Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo showed that they aren’t big fans of each other.
The game started with Allen, who recently left the Celtics to join the Heat, walking up the sidelines to greet his former coach and teammates. Doc Rivers gave his former player a hug but Kevin Garnett just stared at him blankly. That set the tone for a physical game between the two eastern conference teams that ended with a cheap shop by Rondo on Wade.
With a few seconds left in the fourth quarter, and with the Heat up by 11 points, Rondo wrapped his arm around Wade’s neck as he drove to the basket. Wade, who called the move a “punk play,” thought about throwing the basketball at Rondo.
“I got my kids watching so I stopped myself but it was a punk play by him …He clotheslined me … I’m here to play basketball, man. If you want to do something else, then go do something else. Boxing, this is not it. I was glad I was able to stop myself in that very moment and move on from it. We’ll see next time we play.”
Rondo brushed off Wade’s comments, saying:
“I don’t have any response to that … Everybody is entitled to their opinion. He has a voice. There’s nothing else to it.”
Here’s a video of Rondo’s foul on Wade at the end of the game last night.
Do you think it was a cheap shot? Are the Celtics / Heat games going to get more physical throughout the year?
