The Boston Celtics might have taken a considerably different path to their 17th championship had they listened to the rookie trade demands of a point guard they drafted out of Kentucky.
That claim came from the man himself on a recent episode of the “Old Man and the Three” podcast hosted by former NBAer JJ Redick. That man, Rajon Rondo, let it slip that he asked out of Boston ahead of the season in which both Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were added to the club to form the 2008 title core.
“I felt like, we lost 18 straight games, I just wanted opportunity,” explained Rondo. (Boston head coach Doc Rivers) would tell me things and then come game time it wouldn’t happen; I was frustrated in that process.”
“Coming from Kentucky, I wasn’t accustomed to losing like this,” he explained. “I wanted to help the team so every day in practice I would bust my butt, try to figure it out, and I still wasn’t producing in the game or wasn’t getting a chance to produce in a game.”
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“I was asking for trade, I’m glad I didn’t obviously,” added Rondo, alluding to the first of his two career titles. “Luckily, I didn’t go, and I was fortunate to stay there.”
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