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Rajon Rondo has often been an enigma in his NBA career. He got a ring early on with the Boston Celtics as more of a role player while playing next to Hall of Famers Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett. In the various seasons following that championship, we sometimes saw Rondo turn into an athlete who looked like he was functioning on an elevated mental playing field compared to his opponents - and even his teammates.
Among the good times, there were moments where he became an overwhelmingly negative presence on the stat sheet and a totally uninterested drain on his teammate's morale. What we've come to find is that Rajon Rondo kicks things into another gear when he's hooping with the likes of a generational talent (see Celtics Big Three, Anthony Davis), or if he takes the court for a nationally broadcasted TNT game/playoff game.
I live in Los Angeles and root for the Lakers, but one of my favorite players to watch when we were winning championships was Rondo on the enemy Celtics. As long as he was cutting up other teams with his slashing and pass-fakes, I was cool. Observing comfortably in awe. But even when he was putting the Lakers' heads on a swivel in those two NBA Finals I couldn't help but accept the fact that he's one of the most fun players to watch when he's on and playing with a purpose. Here is a vid to watch to relive those Celtics Rondo memories.
Rondo's time with the Celtics didn't last much longer long after Boston's front office traded Pierce and Garnett to the Brooklyn Nets. He ended up being traded to the Dallas Mavericks in December 2014 where he had a tumultuous tenure that included clashes with teammates and head coach Rick Carlisle. His presence on the Mavs dropped their offense from best in the league to fourth place after just a couple months. He was expected to make an impact for Dallas, but he ended up turning in a largely inconsequential, if not negative season for them.
After both parties agreed to end the relationship at the end of April, the Mavs benched Rondo in the middle of their series with the Houston Rockets. His negativity was just rubbing off on teammates, particularly Monta Ellis, so the organization lied to the media saying Rondo was out indefinitely with a back injury in order to justify his benching. The real reason was they just didn't want him out on the court bringing them down. His teammates even elected to not give Rondo a playoff share, which should explain the whole relationship right there. He did have one good game during his year with the Mavs though. It was a revenge game against his former team the Boston Celtics (29 points(five three's), 6 rebounds, 5 assists). It was the only game that actually meant something to him during the year.
After his time with the Mavs, he bounced around the league to a couple more teams(Kings, Bulls), but most people thought he was washed. When he was on the Bulls, fate matched him up again with his former squad the Boston Celtics, but this time they were lead by another point guard that the city came to love - Isaiah Thomas. It wasn't just a revenge game, he was set up for a revenge series versus his old franchise and a player who supplanted him as the city's great point guard. Rajon Rondo focused all of his energy and turned into Playoff Rondo and sucker punched the #1 seeded Celtics to the tune of a 2-0 lead with averages of 11 points, 10 assists, 8.5 boards, and 2.5 steals. Sadly, a thumb injury cut his hot streak short and took him out for the rest of the series. Boston went on to win four straight over the Bulls, but Chicago totally could've swept them if Rondo was able to play the whole series.
I always love it when someone who is perceived as washed proves people wrong. It's what I was hoping Carmelo would do against the Jazz during these playoffs, but he no-showed big time. Rajon Rondo on the New Orleans Pelicans was that guy who came to play on the big stage in the first round versus Damian Lillard and the favored #3 seed Portland Trailblazers. Maybe it was the fact he was playing next to two guys who were mentally and physically superior in Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday, and he knew they could make something special together.
In all four games of the shocking sweep against the Trail Blazers, Rondo dished out at minimum 9 assists(17 assists in Game 1, 16 in Game 2) and played spectacular defense on the Blazers lethal backcourt of Lillard and C.J. McCollum. In the only game, the Pels won in their next series against the Warriors, Rondo accrued a massive 21 assists (and only 4 points, ha). It was one less assist than the entire Warriors team combined. Prior to that, the only player to have 20 assists in a playoff game was Rondo himself back in 2011. Check out the highlights to that performance
In his regular season career, he's averaged about 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 8 assists while shooting 30% from three(and no one respects his three-point shot to even guard him most of the time). Against a Trailblazers team that most people thought would eventually defeat the Pelicans, he put up averages of 11.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 13.3 assists, and shot 42% from the three-point line. In playoffs in general, he bumps his averages to 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 9 assists.
Playing next to a teammate like that who only seems to truly give a shit come playoff time is probably frustrating as hell. We're lucky that we're only spectators. We get to experience all the good without having to deal with the bad behind the scenes. Rondo is a free agent this summer. Even though his on/off switch is widely known throughout the league, he may be able to command some more coin given his huge performances in the playoffs. Let's hope he returns to the Pelicans to play with Anthony Davis, or lands on another team with talented players so we can get more Playoff Rondo before he calls it a day.
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