Is the Rajon Rondo suspension an appropriate length? [Poll]

Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo has been suspended one game for bumping into an official, an action he says was unintentional. Writers from around the Tribune Co. will discuss whether the punishment was appropriate. Check back throughout the day for their responses and join the conversation by voting in our poll and leaving a comment of your own.

Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune

I can live with the one-game clip. But if I were the dean of discipline, Rajon Rondo also would have to agree to some conditions.

Start with publicly apologizing to official Marc Davis. Acknowledge that you intentionally bumped him. He didn’t get in your way, as you pathetically claimed.

Go to some elementary schools and tell the kids that what you did was inexcusable. They look up to you; they’re watching you. Why should they respect referees after seeing what you did?

Admit you have an anger problem. You threw a ball at an official’s chest in February, drawing a two-game suspension. What is this, European soccer? Cross the line again and you should miss at least 10 games. Enough is enough.

Paul Doyle, Hartford Courant

There doesn’t seem to be much room for debate when an NBA player makes contact with an official. A suspension is coming, no matter the excuse from the player or his team.

In this case, it’s obvious Rajon Rondo was pursuing referee Marc Davis after earning a technical foul. Rondo may say he tripped or that the contact was inadvertent or whatever, but contact is contact and there’s no doubt he let his emotions get the best of him.

So a one-game suspension seems about right. And really, the bigger question surrounding this story is why Rondo unraveled with his Celtics making a run against the Hawks. He may have had a beef with Davis, but he needs to show leadership and keep himself in check.

As it turned out, his outburst cost the Celtics a chance to win Game 1 against the Hawks and it could very well prevent them from winning Game 2. The guy needs to grow up.

[Updated at 12:50 p.m.:

Ben Bolch, Los Angeles Times

No, if only because Rondo should have been suspended an extra game for his lame tripping excuse. Did he not think anyone would watch the replay?

You don’t happen to trip and then chest bump a referee while your mouth is moving full speed to complain about a call. Rondo is one of the most athletic point guards in the game but when it comes to a controversial exchange with a ref he turns as clumsy as Tucker from “There’s Something About Mary”?

Mike Berardino, Sun Sentinel

A one-game suspension for bumping an official?

Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo should consider himself fortunate that’s all the punishment he’ll receive in light of the poor judgment he showed Sunday in Atlanta.

The zebras are already overmatched in terms of size and popularity when it comes to the athletes they attempt to regulate.

If those same athletes are allowed to physically intimidate the folks with the whistles, chaos will quickly ensue and the NBA will soon be headed down the path of pro wrestling. (Hide the folding chairs!)

Respect for authority is a vital component of our games.

Rondo seems to have a problem with this concept, having fired a ball at an official in February, a transgression that earned him a two-game suspension.

For him to get wrist-slapped with one game this time around seems pretty light to me.]

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Is the Rajon Rondo suspension an appropriate length? [Poll]