Rajon Rondo "I haven't played defense in a couple of years"

You and I know that Rajon Rondo faded in and out of defensive focus over the last few years.  He was returning from an injury and he was in a rebuilding situation where (ultimately) none of the game results really mattered.  It seemed like he didn't put in the effort because of his situation.  All of that is kinda understandable from a human nature perspective but I'm not sure it makes for good PR to go ahead and admit it.

See the full video here. It is hard to hear the reporter's question, but here is his answer from about the 4:40 mark transcribed.

"Well I haven't played defense in a couple of years, you know I've been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He's helping me out, the young guy.  But here, they expect me to play defense.  In the West, if you don't play defense you'll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position.  So I took it as a challenge to myself.  You know, it's not just me, it's my teammates, communication is getting a lot better and our coverages are getting a lot better, so it's the whole team concept.  It's not just me.  Obviously people are gonna look at the stats and say 'since Rondo came there they've been down 7 - 8 points or whatever defensively, but we still have a lot of room to improve and I still believe we'll still get better defensively."

When I read this on twitter, I assumed he was being sarcastic and looking for a laugh.  But when I watched that thing I changed my mind.  He's either dead serious or just blatantly trolling the media.

I suppose it is possible we're just taking this out of context (again, I didn't really hear the question).  Most of the quote seems to be talking about the different situations between Dallas and Boston.  He might just be saying that because he had Avery, he didn't HAVE to play defense as much.  But that seems a little odd too.  It takes a whole team to play good defense and he was part of this team.

Make of this what you will, but it doesn't really come off sounding very well.

Mostly I feel like Hamlet talking to Polonius:

Slanders, sir. For the satirical rogue says here that old men have gray beards, that their faces are wrinkled, their eyes purging thick amber and plum-tree gum, and that they have a plentiful lack of wit, together with most weak hams-all which, sir, though I most powerfully and potently believe, yet I hold it not honesty to have it thus set down;

For the rest of what he said, you can find the quotes here:

Rajon Rondo Opens Up About The Trade, His Return to Boston and His Legacy - Celtics Blog - Boston.com

Rajon Rondo opened up about being traded to the Dallas Mavericks and his legacy in Boston ahead of his matchup against the Boston Celtics on Friday evening.