Rajon Rondo now second-ever player to win titles with Lakers, Celtics

Beloved Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo became the second-ever player to win titles with both Boston and the Lakers on Sunday.

Former Boston Celtics All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo is now in elite company after winning his second NBA title.

That he’s won two rings is in itself an impressive feat, given the long list of NBA greats who never won a single title.

That he won them with the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers is something that’s been done only once before.

The rivalry between the two clubs over the years may explain that in part, but when you consider the two franchises have more titles than any other teams in NBA history and that they’ve shared plenty of players over the course of their careers, it is remarkable it hasn’t happened more.

The man who did it first?

That would be center Clyde Lovellette, drafted by the (then) Minneapolis Lakers (now, Los Angeles), winning a title with that team in 1954.

After stints with the (then) Cincinnati Royals (now, Sacramento Kings) and (then) St. Louis (now, Atlanta) Hawks, the latter team would sell his rights to Boston in 1962.

Lovellette would win two more titles with the Celtics in 1963 and 1964, the sole person to do so until Sunday night.

Rondo can lay claim to the fact he is the only person to win rings with both Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers, Lovellette having won his title with the organization when it was based in Minneapolis.

The Kentucky product won his first ring with Boston against the Lakers in 2008, in another interesting wrinkle.

The victory does two things for Celtics fans.

First, it makes those with visceral hatred for the Lakers have to reckon with the uncomfortable fact beyond being tied with the Lakers in total titles won, and gives credence if not assurance of a potential Hall of Fame nomination for Rondo.

And that, friends, is a topic for another day.

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