How exactly do we quantify the (allegedly injured) PG Rajon Rondo quitting on his Dallas teammates? Rondo’s failure to show up in the Mavs’ first-round loss to Houston surely hurt the ex-Celtic’s market value, much as you’d have to give Mark Cuban a failing grade for acquiring Rondo in the first place (and the week’s been bad enough for The Owner With A Boner as is — NICE WORK, CLAY TARVER). In the wake of all this, the Fort-Worth Star Telegram’s Dwain Price reports Rondo’s Mavs colleagues have noted not to split their playoff windfall, though by NBA standards, we’re talking tip money :
When it came time for the 14 players to vote on whether or not to give Rondo a share of the pool of money they earned for qualifying for the playoffs, the Mavs players voted not to give him a share, according to multiple sources.
For participating in the first round of the playoffs, the Mavs earned a total of $208,940. Shared equally among the other 14 players, that’s an estimated $14,924 per player.
Not voting a player a playoff share is not new territory for the Mavs. Back in 2012, the players on that Mavs’ squad voted not to give forward Lamar Odom a playoff share after he was waived on Apr. 8, 2012.
Odom’s end came when he and owner Mark Cuban were involved in a heated exchange in the locker room during an Apr. 7, 2012 game in Memphis. The Mavs played the final nine games of the regular season and their four postseason games without Odom, and were subsequently swept by Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs.