Two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo acquired his third, and perhaps most valuable ring over the weekend. The former Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers guard married long-time girlfriend Latoia Fitzgerald in a lavish ceremony in Italy. Former teammate Kevin Garnett couldn’t fly to Europe to attend the event but sent his well wishes on Instagram. He shared a video from the wedding on his Instagram stories and captioned it, “Congratulations to my dog.”
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KG congratulates Rondo on his marriage pic.twitter.com/dvD3iJ10UO
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) June 9, 2024
In the clip that Garnett shared, Rondo and Fitzgerald walk onto the dance floor for their first dance as a married couple. However, unlike most first dances, where the newlyweds shake their legs to a slow romantic song, the retired guard and his wife strutted onto the floor to Future’s ‘March Madness.’
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While Garnett couldn’t be there for Rondo’s wedding, the retired guard wouldn’t take his absence to heart. After all, he was there to back and support him early in his career when he was a young guard finding his footing in the league while playing for a team contending for the NBA title.
Rajon Rondo eternally grateful to Kevin Garnett for his mentorship
After getting traded to the Celtics on draft night in 2006, Rajon Rondo spent most of his rookie season as the team’s backup point guard. He had a good debut campaign and would’ve expected that he’d be allowed to develop slowly in his sophomore season. However, his development had to be fast-tracked after the Celtics landed Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen in the 2007 offseason.
Rondo was tasked with being the starting point guard of a team expected to compete for the championship. The second-year star had to learn quickly and on the job, and Garnett ensured he did so with some tough love. On the Old Man and the Three Podcast, Rondo told host JJ Redick,
“KG was very hard on me, I mean all of them were. KG held me the most accountable. He would get on me a little bit more vocally in front of people… But he was the big homie, he helped me with film, he told me when I was doing great and he told me when I was messing up as well. He was my favorite teammate.”
Garnett’s mentorship paid off, as Rondo developed into a star and played a vital role in helping the Celtics win their first NBA title in 22 years. The duo remain close friends to this day. While they may not always be able to find time to be physically present at notable events in each other’s lives, they find ways to showcase their love and affection.
