The parting of ways between Rajon Rondo and the Dallas Mavericks didn’t exactly come under the most pleasant of circumstances.
Rondo struggled to fit in from both a personality and a performance standpoint, and rather than publicly disclose that the team was benching him for the rest of the playoffs, the Mavericks floated a “back injury” story to avoid dealing with a needless controversy.
The pairing was so poisonous to the Dallas franchise that the team had nothing but hard feelings for the way things transpired -- so much so that the Mavericks decided against giving Rondo any portion of their bonus money they earned for participating in the postseason.
From Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News:
Teams that reached the first round of the playoffs were given $208,940 apiece this season as part of the league’s playoff pool distribution, and may divide up that money any way they choose.
Often times it’s split up equally among teammates, and some clubs will give part of it to trainers, ball boys or other ancillary staff members, as well.
Rondo obviously doesn’t need the money. But in case he had any remaining doubts about how the Mavericks felt about him, getting stiffed on his portion of a playoff share should provide a not-so-subtle reminder that he’s no longer welcome in Dallas.
