Paul Pierce Didn’t Find Out Until Rajon Rondo’s ACL until After Game (Video)

Paul Pierce and the Boston Celtics fought heroically on Sunday to beat the Miami Heat in a thrilling double-overtime marathon. But while the game itself was an incredible battle, the news of the day surrounds Rajon Rondo and his torn ACL. Everyone watching the game knew that the Celtics were trying to win the game for Rondo — the only catch is the Celtics didn’t know that’s what they were doing.

The news that Rondo had torn his ACL was broke during the game, and players like Paul Pierce didn’t find out until their post game interviews that they had lost their star point guard for the season.

Pierce’s reaction basically says it all. There was some hope that the Celtics would be able to rally around Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce coming back for another season and create something special. But with Rondo tearing his ACL, those hopes were torn apart with it and the dream is pretty much over. After the game, head coach Doc Rivers said that he wasn’t ready to write Boston’s obituary, but even if Rivers has faith in the team the uphill struggle they face is tremendous.

Almost as soon as the news broke that Rondo had torn up his ACL, trade rumors began swirling about where Pierce and Kevin Garnett could land if things start to go sour quickly.

This is still all too fresh in our minds — and clearly the minds of the Celtics– to think about anything other than Rondo’s recovery. But this ACL epidemic pro sports seems to be experiencing is extremely noteworthy and whether we want to acknowledge it or not, something very strange is going on to American athletes.