https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/30023849/nba-finals-rehabilitation-rajon-RondoThe origin of Playoff Rondo traces back to a young, unbridled, stubborn talent aiming to be a Celtics lifer. He was easy to overlook on the star-studded Boston roster -- until the postseason, when he unveiled a clutch shot, a key assist or a gutsy charge that would tip the scales. Former Celtics teammate Leon Powe says he remembers hearing "Playoff Rondo" for the first time in 2010, when Powe was playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers against Boston in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
"I'm pretty sure Perk started it," Powe says, "'cause when Rondo was destroying us, Perk kept shouting, 'Playoff Rondo!'"
"Might have been me," muses Kendrick Perkins, who remains one of Rondo's closest confidants. "I did call him that a lot, because he has a history of turning it on for the playoffs.
Rondo disdains his postseason alter ego because it discounts all the work he put in so he could perform in those critical moments -- the countless hours he watched film, created game plans for his coaching staff, shared his knowledge with any young player who responded to him on the team flight when he pulled out his iPad and offered to show them how to get better. Why does he hit big playoff shots? Because he scours the opponent for clues ahead of time, studying how they guarded players with skill sets like his.
The player who Alvin Gentry anoints the most intelligent he has ever coached is on the precipice of securing his second championship ring. Only Clyde Lovellette has won one with both the Lakers and the Celtics, the NBA's two most storied franchises.
"It's all about opportunity and belief from the coach," Rondo tells ESPN in a phone conversation conducted on the eve of Game 1 of the 2020 Finals. "If you give me minutes, let me manipulate the ball, let me be me, then my numbers will spike, and so will the team's.
"But the trust has to be there. And, obviously, that hasn't always been the case."
RONDO WAS ONCE an irritated Celtics rookie sharing time with Sebastian Telfair and angling for a trade. Coach Doc Rivers flatly refused, telling him, "You'll get where you want to go here."
By the time Rivers entrusted him with the ball, Rondo had memorized every play Boston had -- in addition to every play the opponent ran. Powe once asked him how he was able to remember them all. "I just need to glance at them two or three times," Rondo replied.
Rondo devoured film and emerged with ideas. Lots of ideas. Sometimes, they would jibe with his coach; and sometimes, they didn't. It made for a volatile relationship with Rivers, who would alternately push to send Rondo packing or grant him a lucrative extension.
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Rondo wanted to call a play he thought would work, but Doc would want to call something else," Powe says. "We're running up and down the floor and the two of them are arguing. Doc's shouting, 'Run what I drew up!' and Rondo is shouting back, 'I'll run your play but it's not gonna work!'"Powe pushed back on the Cavs' scouting report in 2010, which stated the player guarding Rondo should feel free to leave and double because Rondo wasn't a perimeter threat.
"I tried to tell them," Powe says.
"Next thing you know, he's torturing Mo Williams, knocking down jumpers, draining 3s. I said, 'This is Playoff Rondo. He's different than regular-season Rondo.'"In a double-overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks in January 2013, Rondo, who had already been picked for his fourth All-Star Game, unknowingly tore his ACL on a seemingly innocuous play. He played on it for another 12 minutes and didn't receive the devastating diagnosis until two days later, navigating the injury the way he handled most everything else -- silently, stoically, internally.
"Before I tore my ACL, I was a different player," Rondo admits. "Afterwards, I was hesitant. The play that I hurt myself on was a little jump pass that I'd done a thousand times, but then, just like that, I had to learn to walk again.
"It tore me up mentally. I really had to think whether I wanted to play again."
When he finally returned to Boston after 12 months of grueling rehab, the roster was unrecognizable. Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce were gone, replaced by Jared Sullinger, Brandon Bass and Kelly Olynyk. Rivers too had left for greener pastures with the LA Clippers, replaced by NBA newbie Brad Stevens.
Rivers had grown tired of Rondo believing he was the smartest guy in the room. And Rondo was weary of having his input questioned, even ignored. Their relationship has since come back around, and they both regularly engage in a group text with Garnett, Pierce, Perkins and Tony Allen.
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I only played for Brad for a while," Rondo says, "but I will never forget him spending the time getting to know me as a person, instead of coming in jaded because I was perceived as someone who wasn't coachable.
"You know why people say that? Because if you didn't know your (stuff), I'm going to call you on it."
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