Tuesday, August 28th, 2012 at 10:32 am  |  206 responses

Rajon Rondo Wants to Become Greatest Point Guard in Celtics History


by Eldon Khorshidi | @eldonadam

How good is Rajon Rondo? Coming off arguably the most memorable postseason of his career (you didn’t forget all those triple-doubles, did you?), the question has evolved from mild whispers into mainstream conversation. In terms of the current NBA landscape, you could make the case that Rondo is a top-2 point guard. He sets the tone of the ball game, possesses superior court vision, slithers into the lane at will, is fearless, has a contagious swagger, and most importantly, is just a flat-out winner. Rondo led the League in assists last year, and it’s crazy to think he led the Celtics all the way to the Final Four after they were largely dismissed a few seasons ago as being “too old.” It’s also telling when you look at Rondo’s résumé—take it for what it’s worth, but he’s won an NBA title, something Chris Paul, Deron Williams, Derrick Rose and Steve Nash can’t relate to. Shoot, those guys haven’t even been to the Finals.

Speaking to the media shortly after landing in the Philippines, Rondo, who has never lacked self-confidence, says he’s at a good place right now, but when it’s all said and done he has a bigger goal in mind: Rajon hopes to go down as the greatest point guard in Boston Celtics history.

More details, via Interaksyon.com:

Barely four hours after landing in Manila, NBA all-star guard Rajon Rondo took time to unwind at the Titan 22 barber shop at The Fort. He then went straight to scheduled business, talking to local media about, among other things, his place in Boston Celtics lore. “I hope I can end my career as the greatest point guard in the history of the Boston Celtics,” he said. He doesn’t know where he ranks just yet on the list of top lead guards in the history of the green and white, a lineup that includes all-time greats such as Bob Cousy, Jo Jo White, Nate Archibald, and Dennis Johnson, among others. Cousy was the first Celtics superstar, and was part of six titles with Boston. He pioneered behind the back dribbling, no-look passing, and other modern affectations during the early years of teh game. White, meanwhile, was the lead guard of memorable Boston championship teams in 1974 and 1976. He scored 33 points and nine assists in the Game Five of the 1976 Finals against the Phoenix Suns, a triple overtime game that is among the greatest in NBA history. Archibald was at the tailend of his brilliant career when he joined the Celtics, but helped the squad win the NBA title in 1981. Johnson, meanwhile, was the defensive demon who bolstered Boston’s backcourt in the 1980s. His memorable play perhaps came off a layup after a steal by Larry Bird against the Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference finals in 1987.

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  • The Seed

    He will go down as the greatest Celtic point guard ever. Also I truly believe he will be a top 15 pg all time. Just wait and for those who think just because he played with Pierce, Garnett or Allen don’t understand basketball.

  • errday

    the post-Jesus Celtics, I think Rondo’s going to play a lot better in the regular season, so many of the plays both early and late in game were just waiting for Ray to come off 35 screens and shoot a contested jumper. Sure it was pretty but it killed the flow of the game a lot of the time as well, especially when he started his post-season slump.

  • Redd

    Enig, the Bulls fan?

  • Redd

    Derrick Rose doesn’t need stats to prove he’s the best PG, he has a Malcolm X tattoo.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Can’t deny the fact that he’s benefited from having Hall of Fame teammates who have played a major part in his success. He’s become a great player, sure. But to say that those who point out the fact that he’s had great teammates somehow don’t understand basketball is crazy if that’s what you’re saying. What should be understood is he was slightly above average when they won a championship. Since then he’s gotten better every season and he’s now a top 5 PG. Will he become the best Celtics PG ever? No one can say until his career is over. The most important years of his career will be after KG and Pierce are gone. Then we’ll really get to see what he’s truly made of as the leader and best player on the team.

  • danpowers

    that would only be the case if he had a martin luther king tat

  • errday

    Got to remember as well that unless he got an assist, a breakaway or an extremely open look, Rondo was hoisting a prayer/contested fade/awkward layup at the end of the shot clock. Rarely was he the intended shot-taker in any given play.

    As for Deron, he took a lot of shots and missed a hell of a lot because who the hell else was going to make their own shot on that team.

    FG percentage really misses the context of shots and shouldn’t be included so much in PG debates IMHO. /rant

  • errday

    I have no idea how you can say that a triple-double is “just looking at stats”. Nobody ever gets one by not impacting a game significantly. Rose was also the teams first choice on offense, Rondo needed to share the pill evenly and sufficiently to three superstars WHILE getting his own.

  • errday

    Did you see him in the playoffs? Dude’s J is fine, just needs confidence behind it.

  • Redd

    Nah, Shabazz Muhammad over every!

  • Enigmatic

    Yup. That’s the one.

  • Enigmatic

    Yup. That’s the one.

  • Venus Doom

    DAMON Williams is a ball hog (in reference to Damon Stoudamire, another ball hog PG); a shoot first SG parading as a PG. And he’s an ingrate who back stabbed his coach just because he wants to run the team the way he wanted it. The Sloan-slayer who forced the HOF mentor, coach to HOFers Stockton and Malone to retire, thinking that management would favor but ended up getting traded in what now seems to be a perennial rebuilding team with him as the franchise chip on the shoulders of his billionnaire owner. My prediction and hope, he won’t win any championship title in his NBA career. “Willing to pass” does not count as an assist. Fat Lever is right, pure PG’s also consider the intangibles – game tempo, timing when to pass, who to pass, when not to pass and most importantly leadership – taking control of the game. Rajon Rondo , on the other hand IS IN THE POSITION right now to become the greatest PG in Celtics history. He’s playing in the perfect system that would enable him to be like that. Plus he’s got the support of his coach and his veteran team mates despite the never-ending bait for trade talks by short-sighted GM Danny Ainge. Something Damon and the rest are still working on.

  • Venus Doom

    DAMON Williams is a ball hog (in reference to Damon Stoudamire, another ball hog PG); a shoot first SG parading as a PG. And he’s an ingrate who back stabbed his coach just because he wants to run the team the way he wanted it. The Sloan-slayer who forced the HOF mentor, coach to HOFers Stockton and Malone to retire, thinking that management would favor but ended up getting traded in what now seems to be a perennial rebuilding team with him as the franchise chip on the shoulders of his billionnaire owner. My prediction and hope, he won’t win any championship title in his NBA career. “Willing to pass” does not count as an assist. Fat Lever is right, pure PG’s also consider the intangibles – game tempo, timing when to pass, who to pass, when not to pass and most importantly leadership – taking control of the game. Rajon Rondo , on the other hand IS IN THE POSITION right now to become the greatest PG in Celtics history. He’s playing in the perfect system that would enable him to be like that. Plus he’s got the support of his coach and his veteran team mates despite the never-ending bait for trade talks by short-sighted GM Danny Ainge. Something Damon and the rest are still working on.

  • Venus Doom

    As I’ve mentioned earlier, Deron is a ball hog SG parading as a PG. He just so happens he can handle the ball as a PG but I bet you he’d rather just shoot. But since he wants the ball that much, he’d rather have it the moment it’s in their possession to give himself the first chance to shoot it. He had better offensive players in Utah but still shot more than the closer, higher percentage shots coming from Big Al, Millsap and even AK-47. And here’s what separates them, Rajon Rondo is a winner, would stop at nothing to win and will fight to win amidst all adversities and injuries. You would want your PG to be like that.

  • Redd

    Oh snap, thought u went extinct. U back for good?

  • TNDO

    I can’t put him in the top 5 he is a beast inte lane and can drive at will but a point
    But a top 5 in this day you gotta be able to shoot just ask Toby he learned
    Until then cp3 is a better point and cp3 has been on OK teams rondo has played with hall of famers tell me that doesn’t help you grow.

  • Shifty

    Oh you mean the big three of of the ticket, PP34 and who? because Ray Allen didn’t play alot of those games.

  • Redd

    He played half & last I checked 14 pts. & .458 doesn’t change that he was scoring.

  • http://twitter.com/ec_lkhaa Will Lee

    i think he already is to be honest. He’s the most exciting and special ever, he won a chip. And he’s talking about Celtics PG, not ever.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Stop watching basketball now. Deron Williams is a shoot first SG parading as a PG? Just stop. Now. Also, no need to disrespect Mighty Mouse.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    By the way, most shooting guards are shoot first…which is why they’re shooting guards.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Why would you show how ridiculous you can be twice? You won’t find another person here who will agree with you on Deron Williams being a ball hog or a shooting guard..mainly because the man has averaged 19 and 10 for the past few seasons and has never been a shooting guard in his life. Ballhogs routinely get 10 assists a game though, right? Rondo is a winner, how? Because he has a championship? So Steve Nash isn’t a winner? Jason Kidd wasn’t a winner until last season? Either you have a strange lovefest with Rondo that borders on insanity or your feelings got hurt after Jerry Sloan resigned.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Impact isn’t measured by stats alone even if its a triple double. Rose’s importance on that Bulls team was equal to Rondo’s importance. Also, Rose wasn’t the first option at all times..Ben Gordon shared those duties.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    I don’t think you can ask too much of Rose if he even plays in the upcoming season. If he does, I wouldn’t go any further than 15 and 5, somewhere around there. No need to put any pressure on him at all coming back in season 1 after an ACL tear. Season two is when we’ll be able to see how he’ll truly be.

  • errday

    Rose was always the first choice unless Ben Gordon was hot, regrettably he was hot for a lot of that series.

  • Caboose

    Another comment that makes me love the voting system.

  • fruizm

    youre the real chingy, arent you??

  • Cluna

    Rondo is the best pure pg in the game. Nuff said

  • Slick Ric

    Hating or the truth? was he not just giving the ball to them and getting out of the way? Him and perkins were looked at as offensive liabilities that first season of the big three.

  • Caboose

    Did you post on SLAM before the new system? Cause I don’t recognize your name but you’ve had nothing but good stuff to say lately.

  • Caboose

    Takes some getting used to but definitely worth it. Can we expect to see some more appearances now?

  • Enigmatic

    Hopefully. But this is weird.

  • Slick Ric

    He didn’t mention westbrook though, so obviously he doesn’t consider him to be apart of that tier of PG’s.

  • Caboose

    Little late to the conversation…but define “pure pg.”

  • Caboose

    Keep in mind though that the ring he has came with him as the 4th (or maybe even 5th) best player on his team. The Celts have had less success since he took the lead as their best player.

  • Caboose

    For sure. But it’s definitely an upgrade. The voting system is awesome. Mostly to see Shock Exchange and Seed get like 20 negative votes but still, awesome.

  • datkid

    Deron Williams Chris Paul and Steve Nash are right up there as “pure” PG’s w/ Rondo IMO. Deron williams esp… just bc he’s been forced to score more doesn’t mean he’s not almost as capable a passer as the other 3.

  • chingy

    Call me a stalker, but I’ve been reading SLAMonline since as long as I can remember. Never really feel like posting because the old commenting system wasn’t good at all. But I’ve always felt like part of the “Slamily”

  • chingy

    Not the rapper unfortunately.

  • chingy

    Would be great if we can see who voted…gotta put it in DISQUS’s suggestion box.

  • Armando

    Making a lot of assists doesn’t necessarily make you a great passer. Stephon Marbury averaged 7.6APG over his career (16th all time); was he a better passer than Andre Miller, Vlade Divac, Avery Johnson or Larry Bird? I think not. Nash, Paul, Stockton and Magic are obviously great passers, but to use APG as the only measurement for good passing is just wrong. It might just mean you’re a ballhog who’s reluctant to pass the ball if it doesn’t lead to a basket, thus I disagree with saying that APG shows the willingness of passing.

  • danpowers

    even then id rather take asia muhammad, all day… long time lol

  • danpowers

    Nah, Asia Muhammad!

  • danpowers

    why not? he is young enough to survive this celts generations rebuild and be at the helm on the next successfull cs squad. he plays like oldschool fans like to see point guards play: pass first and play d. plus, he has got a unique style of play when you look at his shot, layup, anything he does. not like most others today who play as close as possible to a certain standard in technique. he has also got the balls to take important shots and the mojo to knock em down. when he calls it a carreer it shouldnt be too much of a suprise if hed be considered as their best pg of all time

  • The Seed

    Those who saying Rondo was 4th or 5th best player on the Celtics most recent championship. Did not watch the game, Rondo was the key to the Celtics winning, he was setting up and blowing by everyone. Also the reason the Lakers won against the Celtics in the rematch, was because Rondo was being guarded by Kobe and Kobe played off of him trying to mess up the passing angles for Rondo. Rondo will be top 15 all time. You heard hear first. Also rondo is a great passer and no matter who he plays with, he will do his thing.

  • ByAnyMeansNecessary

    Rose was the primary ball handler but the primary scorer was Ben Gordon whether he was hot or not.

  • chingy

    Top 15 Celtic all-time I’m guessing? How about Paul Pierce? I’m thinking top 5. Arguably top 3 behind Larry Legend and Bill Russell.

  • http://twitter.com/AjpDos Allen Powell

    Two things. Marbury is underrated and Deron Williams hass averaged nine assists most of his career. He ain’t a chucker and never has been.

  • JJ

    Nash posted 12.2 APG PER36 while Rondo posted 11.6. You could make the case that nash is a better playmaker especially with the difference in the supporting cast.

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