“The main thing is that we have three alphas. There will be three alphas on the team,” newly minted Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo told reporters today. He was referring to himself, Jimmy Butler and just announced signing Dwyane Wade.
“Just trying to mesh together and try to make sure we are doing the best thing for the team,” Rondo said before later contradicting himself. The NBA leader in assists last season was asked who the big dog was going to be. “Obviously it’s Jimmy’s team,” he responded.
“Jimmy’s the youngest, he’s the engine here. It’ll be Jimmy, Wade, and then it will be a pecking order.”
So there you go; Rondo, 30, has made up his mind, and he’s confident he will be able to coexist with Wade, 34, and Butler, 26, on this newly retooled Chicago Bulls team.
Of course, we’ll have to wait and see what Wade and Butler think about this roster system of stratification. By definition, you can’t have three alpha dogs. The alpha is the only one- the leader of the pack, chieftain of the village, chief of the tribe. Rajon Rondo is confident it can work though, given what he witnessed and experienced in Boston.
With the Celtics, Rondo won the 2008 NBA title alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. Rondo articulated how that indeed works to the media today.
Playing in Boston, playing with the Big Three, I was able to see how those guys interacted with one another. Knowing that everything doesn’t have to be perfect in practice,” he said.
“You’re going to disagree, but if you all have one common goal at the end of the day and that’s to get a W, that’s all that matters. Egos go out the window and we all have one common goal.”
There’s a ton of doubt right now within the Bulls fan base. A huge backlash against the apparent direction of the franchise exists, but Rondo remains confident in himself and the team. He really handled himself gracefully in the presser today, even when asked very tough questions.
We have the entire audio of the media session for you hear below. The best parts are 1.) when he’s asked about his reputation for being a head case, (around the 9:10 mark) and 2.) when asked if he’s a different player from the one that created drama in the past (around the 8:30 mark).
https://soundcloud.com/p-m-banks/rajon-rondo-meets-chicago-bulls-media
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication.
He also consistently appears on numerous talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram