The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 105-100 on Wednesday night. In doing so, they took a commanding 3-2 series lead in their first-round match-up.
LA had a chance to tie things up with a little less than 9 seconds remaining in the outing, but ultimately squandered the opportunity with an absolutely awful shot by Kawhi Leonard.
Kawhi airballed a chance to tie it with under 5 seconds left. pic.twitter.com/dMWpjcJXiU
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 3, 2021
After the fact, the one lingering image that prevailed and served as a representation of that final sequence was Rajon Rondo’s reaction to it.
Rondo had a talk with Kawhi after that last shot. pic.twitter.com/kVlaVVjhUh
— House of Highlights (@HoHighlights) June 3, 2021
Fans were quick to make a meme out of the situation:
Rondo in the Clippers locker room rn pic.twitter.com/Fb5s1bablz
— LakeShowHööpsᴾᴴ (@LakeShowHoopsPH) June 3, 2021
The face when you realize kawhi leanord isn’t lebron James
— shannonbrownburner (@RONDOGOATT) June 3, 2021
Rondo’s reaction after Kawhi shot a air ball to tie the game pic.twitter.com/5QAEw2ZqgG
— DARIUS A (@iamdariusalford) June 3, 2021
So what was at the root of Rondo’s outward disdain for that missed opportunity? Although he has yet to officially comment on the situation, it seems pretty clear that he was simply unhappy with the quality of shot that Leonard took.
It was a really bad shot, and Rondo is a very intelligent player. Bad decision-making, like the kind displayed by Leonard in that particular instance, irritates him.
Ayesha knows how to stay in the news https://t.co/shn4dxsmTZ
— Game 7 (@game7__) May 27, 2021
Because Rondo isn’t a superstar a lot of people don’t realize how expressive he can sometimes be. Whether he’s getting into it with people on the court or having a good time off it, the two-time champ wears his emotions on his sleeve.
Will that have an impact on his relationship with Leonard going forward? Time will tell.
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A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
