Should the Boston Celtics retire #9 in to the rafters for Rajon Rondo?

[BballTim]

Pierce, hell yes.
In fact they should build a statue of Pierce and put it out front.
KG, yes.
Allen and Rondo, no.

Pierce deserves it for sure.

KG deserves it as well.  He came to a dump of a franchise that has toiled away in irrelevance for nearly 20 years and almost single-handedly made them a championships organization for a few years.

  If KG was capable of almost single-handedly transforming a dump of a franchise into a championship organization he never would have left the Timberwolves dynasty.

[SHAQATTACK]

I think KG should be retired ....110%....he deserves it as an NBA player as much as a Celtic ......he played every game as if the championship hung in the balance. one of the most entertaining player ever .  Hall of Fame player if there ever was one.


Rondo ......have to wait and see. ........not ready to commit yet........

Maybe


Ray Allen ....NO

[vinnie]

I love the guy, but not sure he did enough to deserve it, so voted no. Although with the Celts, who knows given that they hung Max's number in the rafters.

[chambers]

EASILY
The second best point guard to EVER play for the celtics.  (Mr Cousy)Better than JoJo who I think belongs in hall of fame, better than DJ who's number is retired even though he wasn't here "that long" and was not the third best player on team.
KC Jones
Dennis Johnson
Cedric Maxwell
Donnie Nelson
Satch Sanders (love him but a very good role player)
all numbers retired

cmon, besides the few guys who absolutely hate rondo and bash him at every chance can anyone say Rondo's great celtics career shouldn't be honored in such a way???

Exactly my reasoning.
Too many haters.

[timobusa]

I love Rondo, but I don't know if the Celtics should.

But he definitely has more of a shot than Ray Allen in my books. It's weird seeing anybody wear number 9 other than Rajon.

I hope they retire his number, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

But as OP stated, Rondo is in the top 5 all time in a couple of categories. was an all star half the time he was here. Has tons of memorable moments in his time in Green.

The real question is though, how many numbers should the Celtics un-retire. LOL

[GreenFaith1819]

Yes, easily.

Perhaps the most accomplish PG we've had since Bob Cousy and DJ....and we've had some great ones.

Couse...DJ...Rondo.

Yep, put #9 in the rafters...unless he wins a Banner in DAL this year and makes a return trip to BOS?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZcxYUCQOZI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FX2fs0jYXDE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0xhw-5Txto

Picked the video for Rondo from 13-14 because, supposedly, these were his "Loafing Years", lol....

[Ogaju]

I love the guy, but not sure he did enough to deserve it, so voted no. Although with the Celts, who knows given that they hung Max's number in the rafters.

I don't know that you retire a number for just one game, but Maxwell had one memorable championship game where he carried the team on his back to win the championship in a deciding game. That put him in Celtic lore and probably clinched the rafter spot for his number.

[greg683x]

I think yes, and its the same reason I think yes to KG. Mainly without Rondo, 2007-2011 would have been much different. He was arguably the best player on the team for 2, maybe 3 of those seasons.

For those who think KG should go up and not Rondo, please tell me why.

since no one answered this question, i will.

KG didnt have the chance to spend his entire career with the celtics, if given chance, he would have.  He could have been Pierce here and Pierce could have been the KG in the Minnesota.  He had to be forced out.  They both represent the 'Like Mike' era of the NBA, the era where theres one superstar thats expected to do everything and lead their team to the promise land, one doesnt get their success without the other.  Pierce doesnt get his without the demanding leadership and defense of KG and KG doesnt get his without the scoring and clutch play of Pierce.  Pierce gets his numbered retired no matter what, but without that title and KG hes not nearly as revered here as he currently is.


Rondo would have left this offseason if we didnt trade him, and hes not a clear cut franchise player.  Which is what retiring numbers should be reserved for.


and finally.....modified at 4:44am because of YO MOMMA and also because im drunk

[Sixth Man]

I love Rondo, but I don't know if the Celtics should.

But he definitely has more of a shot than Ray Allen in my books. It's weird seeing anybody wear number 9 other than Rajon.

I hope they retire his number, but I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't.

But as OP stated, Rondo is in the top 5 all time in a couple of categories. was an all star half the time he was here. Has tons of memorable moments in his time in Green.

The real question is though, how many numbers should the Celtics un-retire. LOL

I agree, as I think Rondo is a borderline case.  In any event, I think if we did, it might be appropriate to wait until his career has ended.    Ray Allen?  Please, I think I'm going to be sick right now...

[Onslaught]

Rondo - No. I really like him but he wasn't here long enough.
KG- No. Wasn't here long enough and the wolves will do it for him.
Ray- No for the same reasons as the others and because of how things ended.

34 is the only number that should be going up anytime soon.

[oldtype]

We have too many retired numbers as it is.

Pierce is a no-brainer, KG probably gets in for the huge impact he made on the organization's culture despite only being here for six years. Allen and Rondo shouldn't even be a conversation. You don't just retire the number of every good player who's ever played in your colors.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I've always been a fan of the idea of Rondo, have more disappointments in him than satisfactions.

I don't think his number should be retired.

Pierce and KG yes.

Ray Allen no.

[D.o.s.]

I think yes, and its the same reason I think yes to KG. Mainly without Rondo, 2007-2011 would have been much different. He was arguably the best player on the team for 2, maybe 3 of those seasons.

For those who think KG should go up and not Rondo, please tell me why.

since no one answered this question, i will.

KG didnt have the chance to spend his entire career with the celtics, if given chance, he would have.  He could have been Pierce here and Pierce could have been the KG in the Minnesota.  He had to be forced out.  They both represent the 'Like Mike' era of the NBA, the era where theres one superstar thats expected to do everything and lead their team to the promise land, one doesnt get their success without the other.  Pierce doesnt get his without the demanding leadership and defense of KG and KG doesnt get his without the scoring and clutch play of Pierce.  Pierce gets his numbered retired no matter what, but without that title and KG hes not nearly as revered here as he currently is.


Rondo would have left this offseason if we didnt trade him, and hes not a clear cut franchise player.  Which is what retiring numbers should be reserved for.


and finally.....modified at 4:44am because of YO MOMMA and also because im drunk

5 am and drunk or 10 am and sober, this is a pretty excellent post.

[incoherent]

I dont care if we "have too many numbers" retired.

Why is that even an argument? No body cares about that.

We honor our players that helped us win CHAMPIONSHIPS. And we have a lot of them, so that's a good thing.

You guys realize we could very easily go another 20+ years with no championship?  And you want to sit on your hands with Rondo because "we have to many numbers!" As if that even matters at all.

Who looks at the Celtics rafters and thinks "Well those numebrs being retired means nothing, look at how many there are!"

No one.

Everyone who looks in the rafters sees the history of all the greats that played for this team that helped us win CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Rondo is apart of that group,  without question.

I DARE management to give another player Rondo's number.

You honestly think someone else is going to wear number 9??

Honestly??

[slamtheking]

For me, there's only on sure fire player from this generation that is getting their number retired by the C's: Paul Pierce.

Pierce is a true no-brainer.  the very type of player who should have his number retired

KG is a maybe. His impact was truly transcendent for the franchise but I feel like he didn't accrue enough  time here.

agree.  I originally felt he wasn't here long enough to justify it. still feel that way but not as strongly now.

Allen- just no.

completely agree.  didn't play well enough or long enough here

Rondo- has the time but no where near their impact of Pierce or KG.

true.  the stats Chambers posted do put some perspective on what Rondo has accomplished though

All that being said, the C's have retired numbers of Maxwell, DJ, Ainge, etc. Their criteria for retiring numbers flat out stinks. It makes it almost worthless with the amount of numbers of "good but not great" players they have retired.

FYI - Ainge's number 44 is not retired.
I've never really agreed with either DJ or Max having their numbers retired.  Reggie didn't accomplish enough nor play long enough (which is truly a tragedy because he was on his way to being great) but I certainly wouldn't argue against his number retirement.

I wouldn't say the criteria stinks but they could be a bit more stringent/less sentimental.  It's certainly anything but worthless but a testament to how many great players we've had or players who were so key in winning titles.