The basketball magazine Slam posted an excerpt from O'Neal's upcoming memoirs, "Shaq Uncut," and in the excerpt, O'Neal reasons that it may have been some criticism from Barack Obama that caused Rondo to go into a shooting funk.
O'Neal told Jackie MacMullan, the book's author, that members of the Celtics got a chance to meet with the president in March. According to Shaq, Obama turned to Celtics shooting guard Ray Allen and asked of Rondo, "Hey Ray, why don't you teach this kid how to shoot?"
That joke from the Commander-in-Chief caused Rondo to go into a prolonged slump, at least according to Shaq.
Shaq went on to say that Kevin Garnett would tell him that he could see it in Rondo's eyes that he was "killed" by the ribbing.
"The next day Rondo shot the ball horribly," he told MacMullan. "He stopped taking shots after that. He's so sensitive. I think it was a real jolt to hear the outside perception of a basketball fan who happens to be the President of the United States. It messed with his mind. I'm sure of it."
