NBA should suspend Rondo

In case you haven't seen it, here is the video from Thursday nights game 6 between the Celtics and Bulls.



Rondo basically throws Hinrich into the scorers table after Hinrich made a good boxout. After the foul, Hinrich shoves Rondo and Rondo attempts to throw an elbow but doesn't make any contact. And the result? Rondo gets called for a flagrant foul and Hinrich gets a technical.

If this were the first example of Rondo's disrespect for his opponent and the game of basketball, I would not think that he should be suspended. Unfortunately, this is not the first instance where Rondo was obviously playing with the intent to hurt someone. In game 5 of this series, in the last minute of overtime, Rondo had another "hard foul" against Brad Miller that probably won the Celtics the game. I say "hard foul" because the refs didn't have the balls to call it what it should have been: a flagrant foul.



Rondo claims he was going for the ball, which makes a lot of sense for a guy who has only 11 blocks for the year and is giving up 11 inches and 90 lbs to Miller. Apparently Rondo got the ball confused with Miller's head, because it wasn't even close.

Between these two plays separated by a mere 12 minutes of game time, Rondo is quickly earning a reputation as a dirty player. Perhaps its coming out of frustration at the realization that not everything is going to be handed to him like it was last year. When it comes down to it, Rondo is a slightly better than average point guard with a great supporting cast. And he's quickly realizing that the Celtics are moving downhill while the rest of the league passes them by. This has made him a spoiled, angry player that has begun taking out his frustrations physically on the Chicago Bulls. It's time that the NBA sent a message that this behavior will not be tolerated - especially from a third year player. Rondo should be rightfully suspended for game 7 of this series for the safety of all of the players on the court.