This is My Favorite Rajon Rondo Play
Rajon Rondo and I were rookies together. My debut on the Celtics beat came in 2006, the same year Rondo entered the league. I don’t cover the team now so I think I’m allowed to say this: I’ve never enjoyed watching a basketball player more.
There’s been a lot written about the former Celtics point guard today. Much of it is worth your time (especially this, if you’re asking). Rondo is dynamic, flawed, brilliant, and combustible, a combination of traits that act as a magnet to writers worn down by bland, generally positive messages from the majority of the athletes they cover.
Rajon Rondo is interesting.
He’s also pretty damn unique, at least from a basketball perspective. I’ve seen Rondo do 1,000 things on a basketball court I’ve never seen anyone else do. Calling him a good passer is like saying David Foster Wallace was pretty good at writing about cruise ships.
One play this year stopped me in my tracks. And maybe it shouldn’t have. It was a simple thing, really. A steal, some fancy dribbling, and a pass up ahead of the field for a layup. But Rondo’s steal and pass to Evan Turner during a game against Cleveland on Nov. 14 defines, at least to me, exactly who he is.
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I’ve watched this play 100 times, and each time I notice something different. The anticipation to step into the passing lane for the steal (yeah, I know he gambles too much). The behind-the-back dribble to juke Kyrie Irving. The 15 perfect little steps he takes when Mike Miller comes over to double team, changing direction and shifting his balance each time. And then the final big step — and the ball fake — to open up the smallest amount of room to get the pass through. And he saw Turner the whole time.
Sometimes I think I’m overreacting to Rondo. A point guard is supposed to make good passes. But then I think about that play, and I know I’ve never seen that kind of creativity and vision on a basketball court.
Rajon Rondo isn’t dead. He’s going to play basketball for the Dallas Mavericks. I don’t watch a lot of Mavericks games, but I’m going to have to.
H/T to @MrTrpleDouble10 for the video.
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