AP UPDATE 7:56 pm: The league finally got around to confirming what everybody already knew…
It’s official, Rajon Rondo is in for the All-Star Game, replacing Joe Johnson who an MRI confirmed is suffering from tendonitis in his left knee. Which requires rest. so he sits.
There are some complaining that Rondo is the guard on a below .500 team who missed a chunk of games due to injury. That’s a reasonable argument if you’re going to replace him with Josh Smith (keeping an Atlanta connection). However, if you want to keep the roster balanced with guards Rondo is the next best one available. So I’m good with this.
1:05 pm: It’s not official from the league yet, but multiple sources out of Boston — including CSNNE.com’s A. Sherrod Blakely — are reporting that Atlanta’s Joe Johnson is going to have to pull out of the All-Star Game in Orlando this week (and the Three-Point Contest).
Sean Grande, the play-by-play voice for the Celtics, was the first then Blakely sent out this tweet.
And then there were two … #Celtics all-stars this year. Rajon Rondo will replace #Hawks G/F Joe Johnson.
The “and then there were two” reference is to Paul Pierce already being selected as an All-Star reserve. Johnson is dealing with a sore knee that team doctors have described as tendonitis, which needs rest. So, he’ll stay off the court in Orlando.
Rondo got snubbed the first time around — he missed eight games due to injury and that seemed to cost him with the coaches. But he is having his best season ever, taking on a larger role with the Celtics and giving them 14.8 points and 9.5 assists per game. He defends, he organizes. He’s one of the best point guards in the game.
Safe to say Rondo will not replace Johnson in the Three-Point Contest.
The guy with the legit snub complaint now is Josh Smith, the Hawks forward who is having a monster season. With Johnson out and no Smith, the Hawks have no representative. But brining in Rondo keeps the guard/forward roster balance closer to even.
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AP
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AP
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Reuters
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