Rajon Rondo says he was shocked when he learned — by listening to the radio, no less — that he may have suffered a season-ending knee injury in January. He called it “frustrating” not to be on the court with his teammates during his recovery, but claimed he has come to grips with the reality of his situation.
Rondo made those comments in an interview posted on ESPN.com on Thursday. Rondo told Hannah Storm that missing extended time due to injury has been a “learning process,” and that he has no timetable for his return.
“This is a learning process all over again as far as my leg,” Rondo told ESPN. “It’ll be good for me, have a chance to let my body heal and work on things I never worked on my body before.”
Rondo also outlined the bizarre timeline of how he and the team discovered during a game against the Heat that he had torn the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
“It was shocking, frustrating,” Rondo said. “I wanted to play against the Heat that day, Sunday, and I thought I was playing. But maybe 30 minutes on the clock, I did my ritual, my routine, I got in the shower and something was telling me this just didn’t feel right.”
Rondo went to New England Baptist Hospital that day for an MRI, and as Rondo drove back to TD Garden, he said he heard on the radio that he may have torn his ACL.
“I was like, ‘We just got the results, there’s no way [that is] possible,” he said.
Rondo missed that game, of course, and has not played since the double-overtime loss in Atlanta in which he injured his knee in the fourth quarter. He underwent surgery in February and has been rehabbing in Florida. He returned to the Celtics’ bench last week.
“I’m in a place now where I’m OK with it,” Rondo said. “I know this is my main focus, getting healthy.”
The Celtics expect Rondo to be ready for training camp next season.
