Rajon Rondo a 'nap-time' decision
WALTHAM, Mass. -- Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is a nap-time decision for Wednesday's season opener against the Brooklyn Nets.
A playful Rondo didn't like the idea of being dubbed a game-time decision for the start of the 2014-15 regular season and suggested he won't finalize his game status until he wakes up from his typical game-day nap.
"When I wake up from my nap, I'll let [reporters] know. Around 4:30," Rondo said. "If I sleep really, really well tonight, and [Wednesday] afternoon with my nap, I'll let you know how I'm feeling."
On the eve of the start of the new season, Rondo was coy about whether his broken hand is ready for the typical game-caliber contact. On Monday, Rondo suggested he was 79 percent likely to play in the opener and, through coach Brad Stevens, he upgraded that number before Tuesday's practice.
"[Rondo] has one more imaging [test on his hand] after practice [Tuesday] and then they'll go from there," Stevens said. "I think it's more about his comfort level right now. I think [the trainers] feel like he's progressed well and healed appropriately. I just asked him what he wants me to say and he said, 'Tell [the media] I'm 83 percent.' I said I'll just tell them you're five-sixths of the way there."
But even Stevens shrugged his shoulders when asked what the jump from 79 to 83 percent could suggest.
"Four percent better, whatever that means," Stevens said.
Deadpanned Canadian Kelly Olynyk: "I don't know how [Rondo's] metric system works over here."
Rondo's decision to play appears to lie with him. The medical staff seems content with how the bone has healed to this point, and Stevens has said that he's comfortable with putting him on the floor so long as the medical staff gives him the clearance. Now it's just whether Rondo is comfortable enough with drawing contact less than five weeks after undergoing a surgical fixation of a fractured metacarpal bone -- one that came with an initial recovery timeline of six to eight weeks.
"I make the call at the end of the day, as far as my comfort level," Rondo said. "I don't want to have any second thoughts when I go out there and play."
Pressed on if he feels comfortable enough to play at the moment, Rondo replied, "Well, if I was ready to go, I'd tell you I was ready to go. I haven't told you I wasn't ready to go."
And, thus, he became a nap-time decision, though it would surprise few if Rondo's status is a mystery right up until tipoff.
"Don't be surprised if you see me in warm-ups tomorrow," Rondo said. "I have to address the crowd tomorrow night [before the opener], so I'll be on the court tomorrow night, regardless."
