Will the Boston Celtics Retire Rajon Rondo's Jersey?

BOSTON — Rajon Rondo still has plenty of basketball left to play in his lifetime, but the Boston chapter of his career came to close in mid-December when the Boston Celtics dealt him to the Dallas Mavericks.

By today's NBA standards, Rondo had quite the run in green. Over eight full seasons, the 28-year-old won a league championship, made two Finals appearances and was a four-time All-Star. He served as an integral distributor throughout the Big Three era and helped the Celtics remain a championship contender with their aging core longer than most pundits anticipated from 2007-08 through 2011-12. 

For this successful tenure, Rondo will always be considered one of the greatest point guards in franchise history. While he leaves behind a complicated legacy for now, thanks to a lackluster final two seasons that were disrupted by injuries and trade rumors, his stature in Celtic history is a fascinating issue.

Over recent years, fans and team personnel have debated whether the jerseys of recent greats such as Kevin Garnett or Ray Allen belong in the TD Garden rafters for their championship contributions. Paul Pierce is considered a lock in that department, but there is no clear-cut answer for other key players in the Big Three era. Retired numbers in Boston are a complicated topic for the Celtics since they have retired more numbers than any other team in league history. 

Now that his time in green is over, Rondo is the latest name added to that discussion.  

Ahead of Rondo’s first visit to Boston Friday night as a member of the opposition, Bleacher Report spoke with former Celtics teammates, coaches and players to get a sense of whether one day Rondo will find his No. 9 in the rafters alongside other Celtics greats.

Celtics Retirement Standards: Lots of Legends, But Light Guidelines?

Before jumping into the Rondo debate, it’s important to first understand what the Celtics' standards are when it comes to retirement.

Boston has retired more jersey numbers (21) than any other NBA franchise. That high number is understandable given that the Celtics have also won more NBA titles (17) than any other team in league history. Some of the NBA’s greatest players have suited up in green, evidenced by 16 of those with retired jerseys holding inductions into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It’s tough,” Celtics assistant coach Walter McCarty explained when discussing the possibility of retiring Rondo’s jersey. “You are talking about an organization or franchise who has had so much success. The bar is really high here.”

McCarty may be right about the success, but there’s no denying that Celtics ownership has retired some numbers with less rigid standards than other franchises. A closer inspection of the team’s retired numbers shows that individual greatness was not necessarily a prerequisite for inclusion.

If a player was a lifetime Celtic (Jim Loscutoff) and/or was an integral part of a championship team (Don Nelson), his jersey may have found its way into the rafters, even if he was never considered among the best players on the team in a particular era.

Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

Those lower standards would seem to favor Rondo, who wasn’t at his best when the Celtics won a championship during the 2007-08 season.

“In 2008, Rondo and [Kendrick Perkins] were sixth and seventh guys,” Sean Grande, the radio voice of the Boston Celtics, noted. “They started but they weren’t on the floor in the big moments in 2008.”

Rondo peaked later in Boston, but as the numbers show, he did enough to cement his legacy in the Celtics' record books.

Rondo's career in Boston	PPG	APG	RPG	SPG	Games played	Minutes per game
Regular season (eight seasons)	11.0	8.5	4.7	1.9	527	32.9
Postseason (five seasons)	13.6	8.6	5.6	1.8	92	38.5

Rondo’s Resume: Did He Do Enough? 

While Rondo’s production has dropped off since returning from a torn ACL in January 2014, his overall accolades in Boston create quite a lengthy and impressive list. 

Team records

• Fourth all time in assists (4,474)
• First all time in assists per game (8.5)
• Best two assist seasons in team history (2008-09, 2009-10)
• Third all time in steals (990)
• Most steals in a season (2009-10)
• First all time in steals per game (1.9) 

Individual honors

• 2 NBA All-Defensive first teams (2009-10, 10-11)
• 2 NBA All-Defensive second teams (2008-09, 11-12)
• All-NBA third team (2011-12)
• Led NBA in steals per game (2009-10)
• Led NBA in assists per game (2011-12, 12-13)
• Four-time All-Star

It remains to be seen whether Rondo will have a Hall of Fame career, but his play makes him well worthy of consideration in the eyes of many around the team.

“I think he’s up there [among the Celtic greats] for his records,” former championship teammate Leon Powe said when asked about Rondo's retirement prospects. “He’s got some good marks here. He can get mentioned a few times in the [retirement] conversation.”

“I don’t think anyone would argue it,” McCarty said of retiring Rondo’s number. “There are a lot of legends up there, but if they decide to do it one day, I wouldn’t be opposed for that. I wouldn’t debate it, but obviously it would be nice if he did go up there.”

Charles Krupa/Associated Press

Big Three in the Rafters?

The volume of numbers in the rafters will increase in the next decade, as the careers of many former Celtic greats come to a close. Paul Pierce is a lock to have his No. 34 lifted to the rafters after playing 15 years in Boston. Celtics co-owner Wyc Grousbeck declared that Garnett would join Pierce in the rafters in a radio interview with WEEI back in February 2013:

“[Pierce and Garnett] are guys I can’t imagine giving those numbers out to anyone else,” Grousbeck said. 

The longtime owner also made a telling statement in that same interview when it comes to Rondo’s potential status. 

“I think people heavily involved in winning banner 17 ought to be up there.”

Most fans would argue that Ray Allen played a bigger role than Rondo in that title, but Allen’s ugly departure from the Celtics for the rival Miami Heat in the summer of 2012 undoubtedly hurt the guard’s standing with the franchise and fanbase. That development alone may put Rondo ahead of Allen in the retirement power rankings. Grande concurs with that assessment. 

“I put Rondo slightly ahead of Ray,” Grande said. “If you’re going to do Ray [Allen], you are definitely doing Rondo. It’s about the body of work. Five years vs. eight-and-a-half years of work is a big difference.” 

Celtics president Danny Ainge shed more light on the team’s philosophy on Allen’s standing early last year.

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'I’m not sure yet.' Ainge said when asked about retiring Allen’s number in a interview with Toucher and Rich on CBS Radio in January 2014. 'I don’t know the answer to that. It will be something the ownership of the team will decide. Who knows what happens when those guys careers are over and time settles in. The question is did he play long enough and that kind of thing? There are a lot of great Celtics in history, and Ray Allen is certainly one of them. I know there will be consideration and discussion about that happening. We’ll see.' 

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Cedric Maxwell was the last Celtic to have his number retired back in 2003, and he believes a precedent would be set if Garnett’s jersey is retired.

JOSH REYNOLDS/Associated Press

“Paul [Pierce] is obviously there,” Maxwell acknowledged. “If KG is there, and Rondo is there, then Ray Allen should be there.”

Former Celtic teammate Jeff Green agreed with Maxwell’s assessment when it comes to judging Rondo and Allen together.

“I wasn’t here for the years when he won a championship,” Green said. “I just saw it from afar. I think he had a great career here. As far as him being retired, that’s not my call. Does he deserve it? For sure. Then you have to take into consideration Ray Allen. I don’t think people will like that too much as far as him being retired, but I think it’s a different story.”

The Rondo debate is not a topic that will be ending anytime soon. He may play the next 10 seasons over his career with the Mavericks or some other team he signs with in free agency this summer. The performance in Rondo’s next destination will likely have an impact in some form or another on how he’s viewed by Boston ownership.

Based on the recent statements from Grousbeck, and Ainge and Boston’s history of retiring numbers, the odds appear to be in favor of Rondo’s No. 9 eventually joining Pierce and Garnett in the rafters.

All statistical information provided by Basketball-Reference.com unless otherwise noted. 

Brian Robb covers the Boston Celtics for Bleacher Report and CelticsHub. Follow him @CelticsHub on Twitter.