Boston Celtics Rajon Rondo: The Making of a Legend and the Future of the Celtics

Rajon Rondo has always been an enigma throughout his basketball journey. His game is like a box of Whitaker Chocolate, you never know what you are going to get. 

As always, the yearly trade Rondo debate had surfaced. WEEI callers were having a field day with the get-rid-of Rondo rhetoric; they were clamoring for any and every point guard not named Rajon Rondo.  Names like Raymond Felton on the Denver Nuggets were bandied about.

Lately, the Boston media has been prone to wondering which Rondo would show up—the good Rondo or the bad Rondo. His teammates and coaches have learned to accept him; because with greatness comes quirkiness.  

Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals saw not just a good Rondo but a legend being born in front of our eyes. His wiry frame gave Miami everything it could handle in the form of 44 points, 10 assists and 8 rebounds. 

No one in Celtic history—or the NBA—had scored that many points in a playoff game along with the rest of his stat stuffing line. Even the Miami Heat gave him his due respect, even though the Celtics lost.

Rondo performed on the grandest stage when his team needed him the most, under the glare of the NBA playoffs. This is something Derrick Rose, Chris Paul, Deron Williams nor Russell Westbrook have never done. Nor do I think they could ever have. Not one but two (his second round Game 7 heroics against Philadelphia 76’ers) seminal moments were performed in that type of setting. 

Yet all of the aforementioned guards have always been placed above him because of the perception that he cannot shoot straight or make his free throws. 

Dennis Johnson exhibited the same behavior in his playing days for the Celtics, but when the team needed more, he just gave instead of asking what he could do. He simply started making the shots and free throws he had missed during the regular season. 

Rajon “Swag” Rondo has taken it a step further in breaking Celtic and NBA records so regularly that he has Magic Johnson gushing.

This is the same player that Celtic legend Tommy Heihnson had said since the first day Rondo put on a jersey in practice (To paraphrase the immortal words of Allen Iverson "Practice, we're talking about practice. Not a game but practice"). This kid has greatness written all over him.

Look at grainy footage of Bob Cousy and splice footage of Rondo next to it; you see the same skill-set.

All the hard work he put in by listening to vets like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett is paying out. You are getting this from a player everyone calls obstinate and willful.

Boston is down 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals, and no one can point fingers at Rondo being the weak link in the chain. He is the future of the Celtics; heck, for all intents and purposes, he is the Boston Celtics, and they are in good hands.