“Wanted to Be Like Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki!”: Having Beaten Mamba in 2008 NBA Finals, Rajon Rondo Brings Up ‘What Ifs’ About Celtics Squad

2008 NBA Champion with Boston Celtics, Rajon Rondo, recently made an appearance on JJ Reddick’s The Old Man and the Three Podcast. Among a range of topics that he spoke about, Rondo talked about how he wanted to emulate the likes of Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki towards the start of his career. Rondo claimed that initially, he wanted to be a one-franchise man, like the likes of Kobe and Nowitzki. However, an ACL injury and changes to a successful Celtics roster ended up changing things for Rondo.

Rajon Rondo was the Celtics’ primary passer and ball handler during the 2008 season. Their big three, with Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett were joined by a young Rondo to help defeat the LA Lakers.

Rajon Rondo initially wanted to be a 1-franchise man

Rondo talked about who he looked up to towards the start of his career. Joining as the 21^st pick of the 2006 NBA draft, Rondo was traded quickly by the team that picked him, Phoenix Suns.

He showed consistent improvement towards the first few seasons and produced 13.7 points, 9.8 assists, and 2.3 steals per game during the 2008 title-winning campaign. Rondo talked about how he ended up picking up an ACL injury, and the Celtics underwent big changes once he returned. Rondo missed out on an entire year of the NBA after getting injured in the 2012 season:

“At first, at the beginning of my career, I always thought I wanted to be you know like Kobe [Bryant] and Dirk [Nowitzki]. One franchise my entire career, you know, retire and all that stuff. However, when things work or unfortunately as far as returning from ACL my fourth year, my first time as an All-Star starter. I got a lot of questions, started getting closer to the man above. I was kinda hoping for time off or an earlier summer, and I got that.”

Hence, had it not been for the above, Rondo had all intention to stay with the Celtics throughout his career. The player understandably wanted to emulate two bonafide greats of the game.

Known for his high IQ and understanding of the game, Rondo was the primary playmaker despite the Celtics boasting of some serious talent. After his return, he was surprised to see the change the roster underwent and was eventually traded to the Dallas Mavericks. However, Paul Pierce didn’t think that Rondo was the part of Big 3.

Paul Pierce did not include Rajon Rondo in Boston Celtics’ Big 3

Rajon Rondo joined the Celtics as a youngster in an already stacked team. With Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett, Pierce did not include Rondo in his “big 3.”

However, PP did not choose Ray Allen as well, despite the player being only 32 when he joined the Celtics. Instead, he chose 3-time NBA champion Sam Cassell.

Paul Pierce on Ray Allen: ‘Me, Sam (Cassell) and Kevin (Garnett) were our Big Three’: http://t.co/xVtVmBr92X pic.twitter.com/8ozWvcMDvd

— Boston.com Celtics News (@BDCCeltics) April 15, 2015

Cassell joined as a 35-year-old for the 2008 season and started just 1 game. He scored 7.6 points in 17 appearances before retiring for good. On the other hand, both Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo were important starters who were crucial to multiple playoff victories in the Celtics postseason.