Coach Stevens on his relationship with Rondo

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Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens phoned into the Jim Rome Show on Friday to talk about his transition to the NBA, the struggles of college coaches making the jump to the pro game, and working with Danny Ainge. But maybe the most interesting part of the call was Stevens discussing his relationship with point guard Rajon Rondo.

"He’s clearly a guy that the other guys look up to," said Stevens. "He clearly is excited about the challenge of stepping into and being the central leader of the team. He’s had a chance to play with guys in [Paul] Pierce and [Kevin] Garnett that obviously were traded away, but had huge impact on this organization and were also considered great leaders. As anybody, he’s probably emotional about his teammates leaving, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity for him.

"It’s been relay interesting because, I’ll be the first to say it, he’s made it so accommodating for me to come in that I haven’t had to go out of my way at all. It’s been very good. He’s been great. He’s an easy guy to talk to. I think we share a lot of the same things in regards to how we think about the game, certainly our interest in numbers we share. It’s been great so far. And we’re going to lean on him even when he’s out to lead for us."

Stevens was asked about Rondo's comment on Media Day that the two were "best friends" and now share books and YouTube videos.

"I’m big on this whole idea that goals and trophies and those type of things are not the end-all, be-all as your’e going through a process," said Stevens. "It’s more about how committed you are to growing everyday. And how you respond to adverse situations as you're trying to shoot for something collectively [and] how you’re responding to successful situations. Just your everyday desire to be the very best that you can be.

"I had great leadership in my early years of coaching from the standpoint that, everybody I came across, made it very clear that, if you’re not getting better at what you do, if you’re not learning and growing, you’re going to get caught , you’re not going to be very good at your job. One of the things I’ve shared with [Rondo] is just some of the things that have always inspired me. Different ways, different articles about leadership, some of the books that I like the most. I do this with all of our guys and if they want to throw it away, they can throw it away. But if they want to read it, they can read it. And he’s a very intelligent guy that is seeking answers. He’s not the kind of guy that says he has all the answers. And I think that’s really a neat thing. I think we share that."

This is so refreshing.  Maybe this can change people's mind about Rondo.  Looking past all the losses that's going to pile up, I'm so excited about this season.