Tag: Rajon Rondo

LeBron James praises Rajon Rondo after Rondo announces retirement

After former Lakers guard Rajon Rondo announced his retirement, LeBron James showed his appreciation for his former teammate.

Rajon Rondo has called it quits after 16 seasons in the NBA. While he hasn’t played since the 2021-22 campaign, he made his retirement official on Tuesday.

Rondo broke into the NBA during the 2006-07 season with the Boston Celtics. The next season, he was a starter on the powerhouse Celtics team that won the world championship by beating the Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the finals.

Ten years later, Rondo signed as a free agent with, of all teams, the Lakers. A year later, he achieved a rarity when he won a ring with the Purple and Gold after previously winning it all with Boston, the Lakers’ hated ancient rivals.

The 6-foot-1 guard’s ability to push the pace, facilitate, attack the basket and make timely plays was indispensable to L.A.’s 2020 championship squad, and LeBron James greatly appreciated playing with him.

On Tuesday, James gave Rondo plenty of praise for a fantastic career.

“One of the best players I ever played with,” James said. “Obviously, his IQ was out of this world. I was very lucky to get to team up with him. … ‘Do always talked about if he ever teamed up with me, he knew we could win a championship. And we did that.”

Interesting tidbit: Rondo was drafted by the Phoenix Suns with the No. 21 pick in the 2006 NBA draft. That pick originated with the Lakers, who traded it to the Celtics in 2004 with Gary Payton and the retiring Rick Fox for Chucky Atkins, Chris Mihm and Jumaine Jones. After two more trades, that pick landed in the hands of the Suns, who dealt Rondo’s draft rights on draft day to Boston.

Former Celtics champion Rajon Rondo confirms NBA retirement

The former Boston Celtics champion has officially called time on his career.

Rajon Rondo hasn’t stepped foot on an NBA court as a player since leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2022. The veteran guard won two championships during his 16-year career, one with the Boston Celtics and the other with their fierce rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.

During a recent appearance on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Rondo told hosts Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson that his time in the league is over. He noted how he would prefer to spend time with his children before he discussed how fondly he will look back on his career in the league.

“Yeah, I’m done. I can’t. I’d rather spend time with my kids,” Rondo said. “What a time, it was definitely something that I never took for granted when I was in the game. I loved every minute of it, and I appreciate the brotherhood that I was able to share and bond and grow with over the years. I’ve learned so much in this game and it’s made me the man who I am today… It was worth the sacrifice of me getting to where I wanted to be in life.”

Rondo played in 957 regular-season games throughout his career. He averaged 9.8 points, 4.5 rebound and 7.9 assists while shooting 45.6% from the field. He also participated in 134 postseason contests, averaging 12.5 points, 8.5 assists and 5.6 rebounds on 44% shooting from the field.

With his retirement, the NBA loses another “pure point guard” who was known for being a floor general that can dictate the offense and break down a set half-court defense. He will forever be remembered for his time in Boston, and will likely find himself in the Hall of Fame in the coming years.

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Rajon Rondo on how Spencer Dinwiddie will help LeBron James and the Lakers

Former Laker Rajon Rondo feels good about the team’s addition of veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie and how he will help his new teammates.

Four seasons ago, Rajon Rondo was a key member of a Los Angeles Lakers team that won the NBA championship. He played with LeBron James and Anthony Davis, and the veteran point guard came off the bench to supply pace, ball-handling, facilitating and even some occasional scoring.

The Lakers recently picked up Spencer Dinwiddie from the buyout market in the hopes he will play a similar role. In two games, he has shown some promise, and many believe he has been a very solid pickup, at least so far.

Besides his individual production, Dinwiddie’s greatest value is his ability to take pressure off his teammates. Rondo told Rachel Nichols on “Bully Ball” how Dinwiddie will help in that area (h/t Lakers Nation).

“I think he’s OK with what he has,” Rondo said of James. “He might have expressed his unhappiness or whatever he was thinking at the time but, you know, that’s Bron. He puts pressure on his teammates and if you can’t take it, he kind of fizzles those guys out. He’s very calculated in everything he does and he’s well-aware of what’s happening within the organization. Bron not trying to carry the entire load playing over 35 plus minutes a game. I think a guy like Spencer can give Bron a little more breathing room to sit on the bench and keep his composure and gain his strength and energy back.

“I can see the lineup finishing with Spencer, Bron, AD, DLo (D’Angelo Russell) and Austin Reaves. That can be a tough lineup to switch or try to double team the way AD’s passing out of the double this year is night and day since I played with him. I think Bron will be OK with at the end of the day what happened. Whatever cards he has, he’s going to play ‘em and he’s going to play them to the best of his ability.”

James expressed some unhappiness in his usual passive-aggressive manner prior to the trade deadline. In fact, two NBA teams tried to trade for him, only to be shot down.

But James said this weekend he would like to remain a Laker past this season, while Rich Paul, his agent, said he’s committed to the Lakers.

If Dinwiddie plays well and is also retained by the team past this season, it could help James’ chances of remaining with the Purple and Gold.

Every Boston Celtics All-Star for each season the game was played

Every single Boston Celtics All-Star in franchise history.

The 2024 NBA All-Star Game is set to kick off in Indianapolis, Indiana. A pair of Boston Celtics will be part of the action for the third year in a row as Jayson Tatum plays as a starter and Jaylen Brown a reserve for the Eastern Conference All-Stars.

Tatum and Brown join a long list of Celtics stars who have participated in the event, now entering its 73rd year of existence, which actually got its start in the old Boston Garden. Initially created to improve the image of professional basketball after a point-shaving scandal in NCAA ball besmirched the sport in the eyes of the public, the event has taken on a life of its own as one of the league’s most anticipated events.

Let’s take a look at all the Celtics who have taken part.

A visual history of the Boston Celtics in the Skills Challenge

The event, which tests a player’s ball-handling, passing and shooting ability, is arguably the hardest to succeed at.

As far as NBA All-Star Week competitions go, the league’s Taco Bell Skills Challenge is a relative newcomer after having been introduced for the first time at the 2003 All-Star Game. This year, there will be no Boston Celtics players participating in the 2024 Skills Challenge, however.

Still, it has had a decent number of Celtics players try their hand at winning the contest, though only one — a current Boston player, at that — has taken home the hardware. The event, which tests a player’s ball-handling, passing and shooting ability, is arguably both the hardest to succeed at, yet is also the least popular of the three major individual competitions of the various events held in the week’s festivities.

Let’s review the franchise’s history competing in the event.

Report: Former Celtics guard Rajon Rondo arrested in Indiana

Report: Former Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo arrested in Indiana over the weekend

Former Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was arrested over the weekend in Indiana, according to WDRB. The report stated the 37-year-old was charged with drugs and weapons charges following a traffic stop in Jackson County.

Indiana State Police spokesman Sgt. Stephen Wheeles stated Rondo was initially flagged for a traffic violation Sunday afternoon. A state trooper reported smelling marijuana, and a subsequent search of the car found a gun, a personal use amount of marijuana, and associated paraphernalia. Rondo was charged with unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of drug paraphernalia and marijuana, all misdemeanors.

Rondo posted bond immediately, and a date has not been set for him to appear in court.

On this day: Tremont Waters born; Boston trades Brian Shaw to Heat; Rajon Rondo triple-doubles

On this day, the Boston Celtics traded point guard Brian Shaw to the Miami Heat, Tremont Waters was born, and Rajon Rondo scored a triple-double vs. the Raptors.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, the storied franchise traded guard Brian Shaw to the Miami Heat in 1992. Shaw, who was dealt for former Syracuse star Sherman Douglas, is much better known for his subsequent coaching career and ensuing legal battles with the Celtics organization over his contract than his time as a player on the court in Boston.

Shaw famously ended up in a lawsuit initiated by the Celtics after playing a rookie season with the team, then going on to sign a contract with a European club before he planned on signing a five-year deal with Boston.

Hoping to play overseas in Italy, he told Boston of his intentions to fulfill the one-year deal in Europe before playing with the Celts.

Rajon Rondo calls Bulls’ 2017 playoff exit ‘karma’ for benching him

Former Chicago Bulls point guard Rajon Rondo called the team’s 2017 playoff exit “karma” for benching him.

Ever since Michael Jordan left, the Chicago Bulls have struggled to find a true identity, skipping through weird era after weird era. The only solidified group they managed to bring in was the Derrick Rose-led Bulls, and those guys’ chance at a championship was cut short by injuries.

Before and after Rose, the Bulls put together a bunch of different oddball teams, some of which were more competitive than others. Perhaps the weirdest group the Bulls put together was the Jimmy Butler, Dwyane Wade, and Rajon Rondo-led Bulls in the late 2010s. They were only together for a brief period of time, but they made things interesting.

In the 2017 NBA Playoffs, they even took the first two games of their first-round series against the first-seeded Boston Celtics. However, Rondo went down with an injury after the first two games, and Chicago lost the next four in a row.

On a recent appearance on the Views from the Rafters podcast, Rondo said that he believes Chicago’s early exit from the playoffs was “karma” for keeping him benched throughout the course of the season. (H/t Stephen Beslic of Bulls News)

“I got benched for almost 20 games that year,” Rondo said. “We turned around a little bit going into the playoffs, and then I’m back in the starting lineup. For me, that was my motivation, like, ‘You guys want to bench me? I’mma show you.’ I ended up trying to do my best as I could possibly do. We win the first two games, I got hurt, we don’t win another game. So for me, that was kind of like their karma on how they treated me versus me not being able to feel the destiny as far as me winning and beating the Celtics.”

Rondo was only a Bull for one season, but it was certainly a memorable run – for better or for worse.

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Rajon Rondo on playing for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers

The Kentucky alum also discussed ending LeBron’s first stint in Cleveland in 2010 and some epic playoff battles between the teams.

In a recent guest appearance on the Boston Celtics’ team produced “View From The Rafters” podcast, champion Celtics floor general Rajon Rondo opened up about his time playing for Boston as well as their rival Los Angeles Lakers. Drafted by the Celtics in 2006, he helped them win the NBA title in 2008, playing alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

Rondo recalled the team’s mentality and chemistry, noting they focused on sacrificing for the greater good. He credits veteran leadership for helping him as a young player. The Kentucky alum also discussed ending LeBron’s first stint in Cleveland in 2010 and some epic playoff battles between the teams.

Rondo and LeBron later became teammates on the Lakers and won a title together in 2020.

Check out the clip embedded above to hear Rondo’s exclusive interview with team reporter Marc D’Amico.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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On this day: Boston legend Tommy Heinsohn scores 45 on Christmas Day

It is the most scored by a Celtics player on that day, and Tommy’s career-high.

On this day in Boston Celtics history, Hall of Fame Boston Celtics power forward Tommy Heinsohn scored 45 points in the Celtics’ 127-122 win over the (then) Syracuse Nationals (now, the Philadelphia 76ers) on the road on Christmas Day 1961.

It remains the record for points scored on any game played on Christmas by a Celtic player (point guards Kyrie Irving and Bob Cousy hold the next two highest scores on that day with 40 and 35 points, respectively). The yuletide offensive outburst was also the most points scored by the iconic power forward in any game of his storied career.

The Holy Cross alumnus went on to win his fifth title with the team later that season, but he played a game for the ages that holiday tilt first.