Reports: Rondo didn't get playoff share, back injury was bogus

Rajon Rondo's tenure in Dallas was an unmitigated disaster. In the months following his mid-December trade from Boston, the point guard was suspended a game after arguing with coach Rick Carlisle, repeatedly was benched late in games, and often didn’t seem to gel with teammates on the court.

And that was before he was benched late in Game 2 and missed the final three games of the Mavericks’ first-round series against Houston, a series the Rockets finished with a Game 5 win on Tuesday night.

The Mavs’ official line on the missed games was a back injury. But now, adding insult to injury -- and some serious doubt to the validity of that injury -- come a series of reports that make it pretty clear the Mavs management didn’t like Rondo … and neither did his teammates.

First, The Dallas Morning News reported the team voted NOT to give Rondo a playoff share, despite him playing in the first two games:

Then, Tim McMahon of ESPN Dallas reported that the team made up the back injury as a favor to the point guard, a free agent this offseason who the team clearly was not going to play the remainder of the series, if not beyond had they beaten the Rockets.

According to the ESPN report, the Mavs once again enter an offseason searching for a player to first assist on the court and then take the torch from 36-year-old star Dirk Nowitzki. Owner Mark Cuban thought Rondo could be that guy, but clearly he will not be back.

McMahon reported that the next two in-house candidates could also fail to live up to the billing.

Guard Monta Ellis, who actually led the team in scoring, can opt out of his contract. And forward Chandler Parsons, signed on as a free agent before this season, could undergo microfracture surgery this offseason.