Looking back, although Rondo is one of my all-time favourite Celtics, I wonder if getting drafted by the Celtics was the best career outcome for him.
If I recall correctly, Rondo fell in the draft because of his attitude issues and was only drafted by Ainge after a face to face meeting. I remember Jackie Mac alluding to the fact that ironically Rondo was originally friends with Ray Allen, even morphing into a mini me version but eventually becoming close with KG, till the point of picking up all his abrasive habits.
It would be interesting to see Rondo career trajectory if he’d been drafted by the Suns (they sold the pick to Boston). Being mentored by a prime Steve Nash and having time to learn D'Antoni's offensive system...instead of being thrust into the spotlight might have been the best thing for him.
It feels like with the Celtics, success came too fast for Rajon and it all went to his head.
I agree and disagree. I think there's 2 plays worth of difference between 1 and 3 ring Rondo (during his Celtics stint).
So, I started watching the NBA in 2007. They didn't really broadcast NBA games in the Netherlands, but when I found out about League Pass, I was instantly hooked.
I quickly latched on to the Celtics, but not because of PP34/KG/Shuttlesworth. It was because I saw this lil' point-guard dude fire off these insane passes, perfectly controlling the floor and orchestrating greatness. This is my disclaimer for this post: I'm a fanboy. lol
Now, say about Rondo what you will; nobody accuses him of being a bad floor general. I think he knows his strengths and flaws to a T.
I agree that he picked up bad habits - but I also think that things here
worked because Doc is a player's coach. He let them figure things out on their own. He just managed team cohesion.
In other words; I think people butt heads with Rondo because they don't know how to handle a guy like that. Because he's probably better at reading the game than his coaches are.
So, who do you blame for that? The guy who knows he's right? Or the coach that can't see it?
Obviously, playing devil's advocate here (annoying hey, when people do that?) but that's why I started with "I agree and disagree".
Rondo's personality is that of a bin bag. But maybe people don't know how to handle that either.