Rajon Rondo and ESPN’s Doris Burke Had an Awkward Encounter After the Celtics Beat the Heat
The Celtics survived Dwyane Wade’s three-point attempt at the buzzer to knot the Eastern Conference Finals at two games apiece, and then ESPN’s Doris Burke spoke with Celtic hero Rajon Rondo (15 points, 15 assists, one cheap shot at the Heat during a halftime interview, which you can see below).
Burke asked whether or not Rondo expected repercussions following his halftime comments – “Them complaining and crying to the referees in transition” – and Rondo sidestepped it, saying “what I said was true.” (He was right, of course.) Then the interview ended and Rondo mouthed something at Burke in what appeared to be an unhappy manner. He looked at her, and then she came over to clear the air. What did he say?
The best guess came on twitter last night: “you trying to get me fined?” If you watch the video again, it fits. Some players might say this with a smirk or grin, but Rondo’s a weird dude, and appeared serious. Burke tried to talk him off the ledge to diffuse the situation and it seemed to work.
The game? The refs, perhaps excited by the prospect of a large Sunday night TV crowd, felt like showing off and called far too many fouls. It ruined the game. LeBron fouled out! That never happens. (Last time: April 2008. He’d never fouled out of a playoff game.) Paul Pierce fouled out, too. The last time the two leading scorers of a playoff game fouled out? 1992.
Said LeBron about his sixth foul, which anyone with a functioning brain would deem an awful call: “That sixth foul – I wish I had earned it.”
Game five Tuesday, which may feature Chris Bosh’s return (darn, off by two games!) already has the feel of a LeBron 40-12-10 type performance. [Bottom Rondo video via @Jose3030]

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71 Responses to “Rajon Rondo and ESPN’s Doris Burke Had an Awkward Encounter After the Celtics Beat the Heat”
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June 4th, 2012 at 10:00 AM
Sigh. What can I say? Another game just brutally mangled by NBA officiating. I can hardly watch this stuff anymore. They make it so unenjoyable to watch and so unpredictable with their ridiculous foul calls (on both ends, consistently). I hardly care anymore. I almost hope it’s fixed just so I don’t have to believe the officiating is that inept.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:00 AM
MIA 91 Bos 93 F/OT
/nods at Hef
June 4th, 2012 at 10:00 AM
I thought that dude “retired?”
June 4th, 2012 at 10:01 AM
isn’t that like saying someone survived a fender bender? i mean the fender bender fatality rate’s gotta be fairly close to d-wade’s 3pt shooting…
June 4th, 2012 at 10:03 AM
I hope that Rondo’s words to Doris becomes the NBA’s version of the ending of Lost in Translation and are never revealed.
As for the game and the refs…can’t say they picked on the Heat or the C’s with both Bron and Pierce fouling out.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:04 AM
It doesn’t help that both teams flop, bitch and moan the entire game. I agree the calls were bad, but the two teams bring that on themselves.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:07 AM
get rid of personal fouls and call only technical fouls.
i would, however, like to see someone T’d up for the rare “use of tobacco or smokeless tobacco” during a game.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:09 AM
All teams flop. They all bitch and moan. That’s the product the NBA officiating has created. If you bitch and moan and flop, you get calls and you win games, thanks to the officiating. It’s on the refs. They have to stop calling all this bullshit and let them actually play basketball and not just do their best acting jobs to try to get to the free throw line. It’s a joke. It’s not basketball. It’s awful to watch.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:09 AM
is this an NBA rule? id love to see someone dipping on the court…that’d be hysterical. vegas could make a square game out of how long it takes that dude to puke.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:10 AM
+1 vote for T’s for flopping
June 4th, 2012 at 10:10 AM
All teams may do that, but there are going to be teams that do it far more often, and that’s the case now. It just so happens both of the teams playing one another are in the top-tier when it comes to bitching and moaning and flopping.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:10 AM
I disagree. it was still a very entertaining, intense game.
Let me guess, he never fouls out because it’s “bad for the NBA”?
June 4th, 2012 at 10:11 AM
I’m a Heat fan, and I don’t care if they would have won last night, that was a horrible game that was awful to watch. There were so many ridiculously stupid foul calls late in that game for both sides that neither team could get in any sort of rhythm. And that last foul call on Lebron was just absurd, just like the last one on Pierce was. I hate that shit. I am aghast how the NBA can continue to let it happen. Just like I am that Miami continues to insist on dribbling the clock out and forcing a bad jump shot on final possessions after 2 years.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:11 AM
LeBron’s flop was great last night in the 4th. Dude is 6-8, 260 and he went down like he was Allen Iverson.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:13 AM
I’d be more aghast at this personally. But I suppose we all knew this was going to happen when Wade and LeBron were paired together. They’re essentially the same player in terms of needing the dominate the ball.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:14 AM
The teams that do it more often are quite frankly the teams that are still playing right now. Drawing fouls wins basketball games in the NBA. It’s just a fact. It’s garbage.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:14 AM
Glad to have Coach Mac back analyzing NBA games. Loved the amount of time spent breaking down Rondo’s comments compared to the game.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:14 AM
yeah, it’s a technical foul offense.
that would be pretty awesome, and bad ass if someone could really pull off chain smoking marlboro reds in the player intros and dipping at tip off.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:15 AM
I just don’t understand the mindset. They’ve had so many games with last possessions to win, and so many times they dribble 20 seconds off the clock and end up forcing a horrendous shot. I mean even a fucking rat can learn to stop eating a piece of cheese if it gets electrocuted. Apparently the Miami offensive coaches are not quite as evolved.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:16 AM
I liberally slam TBL as much as anybody else, but I’ve got to be fair. You can get recaps everywhere else. At least this is a “different” take.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:17 AM
Divac is no longer in the league, so I think that time has passed.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:18 AM
But what happens if the refs swallow their whistles? Do we get a great game? Or do we get minutes of mean mugging by KG and D-Wade until one throws a punch at Mike Miller or at Rondo?
I agree with Husker: these teams bring it on themselves.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:19 AM
we might get less shots of paul pierce driving to the net with a look on his face like he’s getting stabbed all over again.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:20 AM
It’s the chicken or the egg. If it didn’t work, they wouldn’t do it. If you don’t get foul calls for barreling out of control into the lane, they’d stop doing it, because they’d stop winning games. Same for bullshit flopping calls 20 feet from the basket. It’s ruining the game and the NBA does nothing about it.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:20 AM
This is an NBA thing, though. Teams would rather take a contested jumper with 1 second left because they know the other team doesn’t have a shot. I’ve never understood this. I would rather run a set and see what comes of it. Of course if a coach does that, and it doesn’t work or the other team hits a 3 as time expires, Jace and Co. in the media will rip him endlessly for not taking the clock down to nothing.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:22 AM
This is true. It’s the same way in soccer, which everyone rips in the states. The players do it because they know it works.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:23 AM
Heard an interview with Kenny Smith this morning. Not sure I agree with him, but he said that teams don’t want to run a play, because there’s too much of a chance of it developing slowly and time running out. If you have an elite player, it’s better to let him do his thing.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:23 AM
That’s a fair point. I guess I was just looking forward to some of the analysis that we’ve received in the past, like this or this
June 4th, 2012 at 10:24 AM
This is well surmised and pretty much why I haven’t been able to get into the NBA since Jordan left in 98.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:24 AM
i could see stephen jackson stick a wad of red man to a ref’s forehead after a bad call.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:25 AM
Also, it’s only 10:30. Don’t be surprised to see another post on the game.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:26 AM
I think he meant to say it’s EASIER to let him do his thing. The risk-reward is in their favor by going to an isolation play.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:26 AM
If you don’t get foul calls for barreling out of control into the lane
See Parker, Tony and Ginobli, Manu. These 2 are the worst (best?) at this.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:27 AM
Iso is the conservative play. It eliminates as many variables as possible that can go wrong.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:27 AM
The fewer number of players touching the ball means there is less of a risk of mishandling a pass, airmailing a ball into the 1st row, a player making a steak, etc.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:27 AM
There are plenty of offenders. Wade is pretty hard to top, and I’ve been a huge Wade fan for years. His game the last couple of years though has begun to rely more and more on simply attacking the lane, drawing contact, and screaming AHHHHH while he throws his arms in the air to get to the line. It’s garbage. But pleennnnnty of players do it.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:28 AM
*a player making a steak = a player making a mistake
June 4th, 2012 at 10:29 AM
That’s fine, but it’s bad basketball. It’s one on one, it’s predictable, and it results in a low percentage shot. You know what they are doing from the moment the possession starts, you collapse on the ballhandler, boom, missed shot.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:30 AM
I didn’t watch the game so I have no idea if this is true or not. But this morning Bruce Bowen was saying that you could hear Spoelstra in the huddle saying something like “get to the basket, let’s be quick”. Either Spo was talking about something else or Wade just decided to do whatever he wanted.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:30 AM
i like the original better.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:31 AM
Bottom line: I’m really pissed off I stayed up late to watch that shit and now I have a busy day of work and I’m tired.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:31 AM
What kind of steak? Ribeye?
June 4th, 2012 at 10:32 AM
And the Celtics should have won Game 2. For shame.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Basketball is just a bad sport to officiate. The amount of 50-50 calls that refs have to make is more than any other sports. Plus, just because someone flops or embellish contact doesn’t mean they’ve not been fouled. It works the same way in soccer. A player goes down after a light foul like he’s just been shot by a firing squad and the ref calls a foul. Crowd gets mad at the ref cause he “fell” for the trickery. When in truth, ref knows the guy embellished the contact, but he indeed did get fouled.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:33 AM
Wade just decided to do whatever he wanted.
Probably this. Then again, it’s the last shot of the game and Wade ain’t passing it up. As someone said on ESPN afterwards, he might even have thought that there was no way they could win in 2OT and opted to go for it all right then and there.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:34 AM
I could go for a rib eye right now.
That bowl of cereal and apple I had for breakfast ain’t cutting it right now.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:36 AM
/trademarks idea for steak cereal
June 4th, 2012 at 10:36 AM
whey protein shake and a bowl of cereal will keep you full for hours. throw in some fiber and you won’t be hungry until 1pm.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:36 AM
Hockey has this same problem, but they actually have a penalty they call on the “flopping” player in addition to taking off the offending player on the call. It’s not a perfect system and they don’t always use it as much as they could/should. It’s hard to referee intent and get into a players head.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:37 AM
/begins working on steak sauce flavored milk.
//trademarked
June 4th, 2012 at 10:38 AM
shouldn’t need it if the steak cereal is poured right.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:39 AM
I’ve been saying this for years now, but I want Fifa to add two more linesman (giving them one for each quadrant. I also want them to retroactively card and fine those who dive and I want refs to have quicker hooks on cards for diving. It would take 1-2 years, tops, to cut diving down by half if the players knew they’d likely get carded and fined for trying it.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:40 AM
That’s a cop out. Sorry. When the majority of the entire viewing public can see these bad calls, and they are very, very obvious, not to mention they have replays to refer to, this shit shouldn’t be happening. Yeah they might miss some here and there, but it’s so worse than that.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:41 AM
We see them in slow-mo replay, dude. That’s not the same thing as full speed with a crowd of 20k screaming in your ear.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:41 AM
I tried to make a steak milkshake once.
Did not work.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:42 AM
personally i only use salt and pepper on my steak cereal, maybe with a red wine reduction sauce if i’m treating my lady to a nice breakfast.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:43 AM
shoulda tried the pork malt.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:45 AM
Nope. It’s as obvious in real time just as it is in slow motion. When Shane Battier is falling down 17 feet from the basket trying to guard someone, you don’t need slow mo. When Mikael Pietrus goes flying into the second row when Lebron has his back to him posting up below the basket, you do not need replay. These are awful, awful calls. Not to mention all the ridiculous technical fouls they’ve whistled against Boston earlier in the series.
Hell, if it’s that hard, put the damn official in the booth and let him make calls from there. Whatever they’re doing now, it ain’t working by a longshot.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:46 AM
The play had Chalmers open early off a double, but Wade said pissed that option away by dicking around with the ball.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:48 AM
Well now you’re just being ridiculous.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:53 AM
I am thinking something similar to Lucky Charms. Instead of Marshmallows though it will be fun shaped tums.
write that down.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:55 AM
Sorry man, when the calls are that bad and obvious, you don’t need slow motion. Both of the final fouls on Pierce and Lebron last night were so bad, and so obviously flops, you could have seen them from the top row of the Boston Garden.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:55 AM
i was thinking either marshmallows to simulate fat or fat bits to simulate marshmallows.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:57 AM
The officiating is godawful but even worse was a point last night when Joe Crawford appeared to turn around and engage the fans that had been screaming for a foul. Being bad at your job but going about it the right way is one thing, but a professional referee taking the time to talk smack to fans?….Only in the NBA…..
June 4th, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Yeah, wouldn’t be the first time for him. He interjects himself into the game. Just ask Tim Duncan.
June 4th, 2012 at 10:59 AM
Of course the refs are fucking up obvious calls. The games are fixed.
June 4th, 2012 at 11:11 AM
I never understand the concept of universally ripping referees. OK so there are 2 possibilities here and you can decide for yourself which is more likely
a) NBA just happens to be composed of a collection of incapable referees such that the commenters here with training can do a better than most of them.
b) The job of refereeing is much more difficult than it comes across on TV and there are many contingencies and inherent difficulties in doing the job that non-referees are not aware of.
Most people that say calls were obvious to them on TV cannot really tell you for sure if it was obvious to them before or after the replay if they honestly thought about when the obviousness of the call was apparent to them.
June 4th, 2012 at 11:21 AM
Dear NBA advertisers:
Joey Crawford is why I turned off last night’s game. No shit, I just couldn’t take him making the game all about himself. Love,
–Patrick Division
June 4th, 2012 at 11:25 AM
There’s nothing wrong with accentuating a foul with a little extra, especially for a horse like LeBron who is a) probably fouled on every play, and b) isn’t going to have too many people actually bowl him over, so he has to sell it. This bad officiating started with Stern not being able to sell the game on its own merits during the Jordan retirements. He sold out great defense for the benefit of offense. On top of that, he had the turnover rate in experienced officiating increase between retirements and the tax scandal. So now, we have these younger officials who have been trained to give the benefit to the offense, and players who have learned that any overreaction will draw a foul call.
June 4th, 2012 at 11:56 AM
Basketball is by far the toughest sport to officiate. Especially when teams are physical. I reffed some JUCO ball and even there it’s really hard to tell what’s going on in the paint. The stuff on the perimeter is a lot easier, but once you get below the foul line the angles are weird and you’re looking through a maze of bodies at all times.
The one issue about the NBA and College is that you have these old guys trailing the play,being out of position, and making calls from 40 feet away sometimes. I still think if the NBA and College called the block/charge a block more often you wouldn’t see the trainwrecks we see down low. Taking a charge isn’t playing defense, it’s just getting in the way. I despise that rule.
June 4th, 2012 at 12:57 PM
The league is so corrupt its ridiculous. If anyone doesnt think stern has an agenda is blind. These officials do a fine job in the regular season. They are instructed to make sure the home teams win the home games early in the series so they can get to game 6-7. If u watched game 2 of the heat celtics u would know. Its amazing they Stern gets away with this garbage. Im not a fan of either team but u can tell How the refs are instructed to call these games. In south beach:very touchie foul calls and dont allow contact. In boston:they let them play a lot in the first 3 quarters.