HomeWALTHAM -- The Celtics played their hearts out in the playoffs last season, eventually losing in seven games to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
They got that far without the heart and soul of their team, Kevin Garnett, who missed the entire playoffs with a sprained right knee.
But, according to Yahoo Sports!, it turns out that there was more going on behind the scenes than just Garnett missing in action.
A mere six days before the playoffs, the Celtics were blown out by Cleveland, 107-76, in Cleveland. On the plane trip home, Yahoo Sports! is reporting that against the advice of Doc Rivers, point guard Rajon Rondo called a player's only meeting so that the players could air out everything that was going on within the locker room.
Some of the older players had issues with some of the younger players and vice versa. Word is that the meeting didn't resolve anything, and it did more harm than good.
That is all in the past now. Rondo has a better understanding of what Boston's veterans want from him, and they have a better understanding of what he was, and is trying to accomplish.
The goal for everyone this season is to win the NBA title.
A year older, wiser, and more talented, Rondo plans on quarterbacking the Celtics to the NBA championship this season.
He also hopes to re-sign with the Celtics, who have until Halloween to extend his contract or he will become a restricted free agent next summer.
The Celtics have Rondo at a bargain price of $2.6 million this season, but after nearly averaging a triple-double in the playoffs last year (16.9 points, 9.8 assists and 9.7 rebounds), he is due for a big raise.
"I try not to focus on it,'' Rondo said of his contract negotiations. "What's going to happen is going to happen. I'm trying to get a ring.
"I don't think it'll be on my mind. I won't allow it to affect me during the season. Of course, everyone wants security and it'd be great if I could sign now, but the focus is a ring. I'll let my agent (Bill Duffy) handle the contract stuff and I'll just play."
