The Celtics may “love” Rajon Rondo, but that does not mean he is immune from being held accountable. On Wednesday, Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge revealed on WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Show Rondo had been fined for being late to games last season. Ainge deemed the tardiness “unacceptable.”

Rondo showed up an hour before gametime during the playoffs this season. He explained his late arrival last week on WEEI and chalked it up to a pregame routine.

“People are going to make assumptions, everyone has opinions. I actually do try to come to games as late as possible because I don’t like to go in the locker room and talk and waste time…Different guys have different opinions on why they like to get to the game so early,” he said. “Some people may look at it as late but I look at it as just coming to play.”

Regardless of his explanation, Ainge insists that team rules are rules.

“There was just a couple of situations where Rajon was late,” Ainge said. “I don’t know if he was sitting in his car, but he showed up late and the rest of the team was there, and he was late. There are team rules in place and he said he was in traffic. That was unacceptable.”

This offseason Rondo has been linked in nearly every Celtics trade rumor. The Celtics have until October to decide whether or not to extend his contract.

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