What Aren't They Telling Us About Rondo?

Rajon Rondo supposedly withdrew from Team USA for family matters, but many aren't so sure.

It all seems so strange. Earlier this week, Rajon Rondo told reporters that he felt as though he was on the bubble for Team USA's roster. Later that day, he withdraws from the team. Most of the speculators believe that the coaching staff must have had something to do with this. We've seen guys in the past (a la Gilbert Arenas & Chauncey Billups in recent history) get bumped from the squad when they seemingly deserved to be there. But to me, Rondo makes less sense than anyone to take off the team. Derrick Rose? Stephen Curry? Russell Westbrook? I mean, these are the guys that will see time at point guard over Rondo. Mark Spears said it best in a radio interview today with 98.5. Those guys haven't had the clutch game experience Rondo has. In the final minutes of a tight game, you know what you're going to get -- both offensively and defensively -- out of Rajon Rondo. Westbrook and Curry? Not so much. Derrick Rose? Never been to the biggest stage. Some say it's because Rondo doesn't have the jump shot he needs. Since when does international basketball mean your point guard needs to shoot the lights out? Rondo has an improving jumper that isn't exactly massive steps down from the jumper of Derrick Rose. By all indications, Rondo was lighting it up in practice and his team was always winning the inter-squad scrimmages. The players love playing with him and he was getting along with the players. How exactly does an all-NBA point guard go from the starting lineup to the very back of the bench, leading him to withdraw himself from the team? Something else is going on here. It's not family matters. Too big of a coincidence that he said he was on the bubble earlier that day. So I'll jump to a conclusion and raise a question off of that. Why? Why doesn't this coaching staff want Rajon Rondo on this team? I can't seem to make much sense of it. Kid is a proven winner and probably the best all-around point guard in the league. Offensively, I'll give an edge to Chris Paul. But the steals that Rondo puts up, the rebounding (don't forget his 37-18-13 game against Cleveland) and everything else -- it's phenomenal. He's the best in the league in my opinion. And it's just such a strange phenomenon to see a guy starting one day and withdrawing himself the next. I don't know if news will break eventually about something else they didn't tell us here, but I'm pretty convinced there's something. Major or minor, there's another reason why Rajon Rondo isn't suiting up for Team USA at these world championships.