Former Boston Celtics star point guard Rajon Rondo accused Dwyane Wade of trying to break his elbow in the 2011 playoffs.
Rajon Rondo sat down for an awesome interview with @Marc_DAmico and @SeanGrandePBP on View From the Rafters.
Among other things, he discussed the gruesome elbow industry he suffered in the 2011 playoffs at the hands of Dwayne Wade.
"I think he broke it on purpose. Or tried.” pic.twitter.com/Lk1M2sEJgy
— Noa Dalzell 🏀 (@NoaDalzellNBA) December 27, 2023
“That particular play, like I said, it was kind of a freak accident,” Rondo said. “We were teammates after that, so it’s no bad blood. But I think he broke it on purpose, or tried.”
Rondo got injured in the third quarter of Game 3 of the Celtics’ second-round series against Wade and the Heat. The floor general ended up returning to the game for the Celtics and helped lead the team to a victory over Miami.
But Game 3 proved to be the only game the Celtics would win in their series versus the Heat. Miami eliminated Rondo and the Celtics in five games. After beating the Chicago Bulls, the Heat went on to reach the 2011 NBA Finals, where they lost to Dirk Nowitzki, Jason Terry and the Dallas Mavericks in six games.
Wade and Rondo faced off against each other once again in the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. The Heat prevailed in that series as well, but the Celtics gave Miami more of a run for its money that time around.
The Celtics held a 3-2 series lead at one point, but the Heat beat Boston in seven games after winning the last two games of the series. Miami then reached the NBA Finals for the second season in a row and this time was able to win the title. The Heat sent Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kendrick Perkins and the Oklahoma City Thunder home in five games in the 2012 championship series.
Wade won more titles than Rondo did during his playing career, seeing as how the former won three while the latter won two. Rondo’s titles came during 2008 and 2020, while Wade’s came in 2006, 2012 and 2013. The 37-year-old was a member of the storied Los Angeles Lakers when he won the 2020 title, and ironically, Los Angeles beat the Heat in the 2020 NBA Finals.
While Rondo seems to believe Wade injured his elbow on purpose, at least the floor general alluded to the notion that the two players don’t have any bad blood.
