Why Rajon Rondo Believes Ex-Players Are Essential to Developing Young NBA Talent

We’re living through a golden age of NBA basketball. Players are more athletic and more efficient than ever before, and advanced analytics have changed the game. The flow of young talent into the league only keeps getting better, with players like Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper and VJ Edgecombe making up just part of what already looks like an all-time draft class.

Talent is one thing, but developing it is another. Coaching matters more than ever, and while there’s a lot of knowledge to be gained by looking at the game analytically, that will never replace experience. Ex-players can be found throughout the league’s front offices and coaching staffs.

Rajon Rondo is one ex-player who’s gotten into coaching. The two-time champ joined the Bucks last year as a guest coach, and he earned a promotion this year so that he’s now actually sitting on the bench. Rajon joined his old teammate Kevin Garnett on today’s episode of KG Certified, and part of their conversation centered on the importance of having ex-players get into coaching.

“I think it’s very vital to this young league we have,” Rondo said. “Especially with guys not understanding the game at a high IQ level, you gotta teach so much on the court.” 

To him, that means actually being able to suit up and show young players what to do, not just tell them from the bench. That’s why playing experience is so important, because it gives guys like him credibility that others who haven’t been in the NBA don’t have.

It’s not enough just to have played, though, because otherwise you can get left behind. Rondo said that mixing his experience while learning and evolving with the game is the key to connecting with today’s young players.

“I just keep continuing to study the game,” Rondo explained. “Every team, every player’s different. You know me, I’m a tendency guy, so regardless of analytics, what they say, obviously it gives me great information … but things change up and vary each game to game, so I always love the feel and being able to adjust on the fly.”

The Bucks are always going to go how Giannis Antetokounmpo goes, but Rondo has been part of a staff that has helped develop Ryan Rollins, AJ Green and Kevin Porter Jr. into valuable contributors. That’s kept Milwaukee in the hunt even as Giannis has been forced to miss 14 games this year.

The Bucks are currently 11th in the East and two games behind the Hawks for the last play-in spot, thanks in part to an ongoing three-game losing streak. If they do eventually reset by trading Giannis (which by this point is anyone’s guess), Rondo’s role will become even more valuable as helps the team rebuild around a younger core.