Cops certainly knew who they were arresting when they threw the cuffs on Rajon Rondo earlier this year ... as police body cam footage, obtained by TMZ Sports, shows officers discussed his NBA career just after pulling him over.
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00:00Welcome back to TMZ Sports, Mike and Mojo.
00:07Mojo, Ra'Jon Rondo, the NBA star, was arrested back in January, late January, in Indiana
00:15for speeding and for gun possession.
00:19Now, a couple of months later, Ra'Jon ends up striking a deal with prosecutors.
00:24He pleads guilty to a misdemeanor gun charge and sort of has that cleared up.
00:31But now, Mojo, we have finally gotten our hands on the body camera footage worn by police
00:38as they went through the traffic stop.
00:42And Mojo, we have the moment here where cops realized that they were dealing with an NBA
00:48star.
00:49Watch this.
00:51He's a former basketball player.
00:53Is he?
00:54Yep.
00:55Signal 27, right before the Seymour exit, 50 mile marker, black, Tesla, two occupants,
01:01green.
01:09Affirmative.
01:11Yeah, he's a basketball player.
01:15I don't want him.
01:21Affirmative.
01:23Yeah, he's playing for a bunch of NBA fans.
01:27Not that I care, I'm just telling you.
01:31I thought we were going towards, hey, I'm going to let him go because of that.
01:34But then the cop clearly, Mojo, says, hey, we're not going to cut him a break because
01:39of that.
01:40And they did not cut him a break.
01:41They arrested Ra'Jon and we know the rest of the story.
01:45But you know, Mojo, he was a really good player, Ra'Jon was, so it doesn't surprise me the
01:50cops knew who he was.
01:51The guy won championships, all stars.
01:52I mean, he kind of did it all as a player.
01:54Hey, I mean, with that tone, I knew he wasn't getting off from the start.
01:58He didn't have to say, I don't care.
02:01He already said that with his inflection before that, with his tone, a little funny to watch.
02:08It is interesting that he said, not like I care, right, because there's a couple of ways
02:14that can go about it.
02:15I mean, obviously, we're watching that footage.
02:17If he didn't say that, maybe people would think that that might influence how he was
02:22handling this situation.
02:23I mean, he clearly said that there is a warrant already.
02:27I mean, that was already on record before he even said that.
02:31But yeah, I mean, I got to think if you're a cop, if you're an arresting officer, it
02:35might be helpful if you know you're arresting a celebrity or a superstar athlete of that
02:41kind.
02:42I mean, technically, it shouldn't, but that might come up.
02:46You might have to be prepared for how, you know, the person you're pulling over is going
02:50to act regardless of who they are.
02:52So, I mean, it maybe gives you a little bit of backstory on who you're talking to.
02:57I don't know.
02:58I've never been a cop.
02:59And look, a lot of times the footage comes out.
03:00So I think as a police officer, too, that's actually and perhaps the inclination is, hey,
03:06I like this person.
03:07I watch them.
03:08I cut them a break.
03:10But you've also got to realize that in 2024, police wear body cameras and a lot of times
03:16that footage is then ultimately released and these are high profile arrests and a lot of
03:20people end up watching these things.
03:21So I think it's if you're a police officer, you want to make sure that you're really going
03:25and handling business the right way.