Breaking Down How Rajon Rondo Can Average 20 Assists Per Game

Rajon Rondo has adapted into something more than a basketball player.

He is a statistical anomaly. An athlete with a unique mixture of skills and physical attributes, seemingly predisposed to distribute a basketball. Now that he has fully embraced this mindset, things are getting scary.

20 assists per game scary.

I'll quickly save you some time by informing you that John Stockton, in the 1989-90 season, averaged 14.5 assists per game. That number stands as the highest per game assist total for an individual season. Stockton did it over 78 games, but one needs only 70 to qualify, per NBA.com.

Rondo is currently averaging 13.7 assists per game. He has already posted two 20-assist games in the 2012-13 season and, as is now common knowledge, he has yet to submit a game with less than 10 assists.

With just 56 games to go before he qualifies for that record, can Rondo force his average over 14.5 assists per game?

How about 20?

That is apparently where the mercurial point guard wants to go. After his most recent 20-assist night, Rondo seemed frustrated. According to Chris Forsberg of ESPNBoston.com, teammate Courtney Lee noted that Rondo felt he could have gone for 30 and was upset with 20.

Forsberg goes on to detail that Rondo had played just 32 minutes that night, well below his season average of 38.5. The Boston Celtics beat the Toronto Raptors 107-89. The uncompetitive game forced the shortening of Rondo’s minutes. With those extra six to eight minutes maybe 20 seems low.

In reality, 20 assists seems absurd right now. In sports, though, everything is always changing and evolving. In the NFL, 4,000 yards passing used to be huge news. Fans want more scoring and high-flying action, and maybe the same goes for the NBA. 

If so, No. 9 on the Boston Celtics is the prime candidate to play the Drew Brees role.