ORLANDO, Fla.When the news came that Rajon Rondo would not be an all-star, he did what most NBA players do during the All-Star break - he made plans to soak in the warm, balmy beach weather of the Bahamas.
Then came word that he would in fact be an All-star replacement for Atlanta's Joe Johnson.
Bye-bye Bahamas.
Hello, Orlando.
Rondo made it into town early Friday morning and discussed a number of topics, chief among them being his two-game suspension for throwing a basketball at official Sean Wright at Detroit on Sunday, and the role that he has to play in the Celtics turning around what has been a disappointing first half of the season.
Not surprisingly, Rondo didn't have much to say about the suspension which not only hurt the Celtics (15-17) in their loss to the Pistons, but was certainly a factor in the two games he did not play in because of the suspension.
Both ended in losses for the Celtics, who come into the break with a five-game losing streak.
As far as the ejection at Detroit - the first of his career - Rondo said fans and foes shouldn't get too comfortable with him having that kind of outburst.
"I don't think you guys will see that again," Rondo told reporters on Friday. "So obviously, I learned from it. I'm an emotional player. I just felt things were different. And I reacted the way I reacted."
Moments before Rondo tossed the ball at Wright's chest, he drove into the lane and missed a shot. After the miss, Pistons center Greg Monroe landed on him. Rondo thought he was fouled, and didn't waste any time voicing his displeasure to Wright about what he felt was a bad non-call.
Next thing you know, Rondo has the ball in his hands. The ball leaves his hands with some serious torque, hitting Wright in the cheststomach area.
Just like that, two technicals and an automatic ejection for Rondo.
"That's in the past," Rondo said of the incident. "I made a mistake. It is what it is."
He's right.
At this point, there's no reason for Rondo or the Celtics to dwell on what happened, or view it necessarily as a major issue.
The bigger concern for them has to be how to turn around their season which is spiraling in the wrong direction - unless they want to be in the NBA lottery.
When you look at the C's roster, there's no shortage of players who need to perform at a higher level, more consistently.
Despite this being his third straight all-star appearance, Rondo includes himself in that group.
"I can do a lot more," he said. "I hold myself to a high standard. I'm not pleased with the way the team is playing, so I think I can do a better job of maybe being vocal, speaking up as far as things needing to get done."
Rondo added, "I'm not satisfied where we are. I'm not satisfied where I am. I want to continue to get better for my team. I really do believe we'll be better before the end of the year."