You can’t win a championship without role players. Every great championship-winning team has those guys who sacrifice their glory to do the dirty work that stars don’t have to. JJ Barea for the 2011 Mavs, Shane Battier for the 2013 Heat, Bruce Brown for the 2023 Nuggets, the list is endless. Rajon Rondo, one of the smartest players the NBA has ever seen and an xcellent role player in his own right, laid out their importance perfectly in a podcast with Dwyane Wade.
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Calling them “stars in their roles,” Rondo credited some of his teammates on the 2008 Celtics, claiming they were okay with what they were tasked with doing, and that’s what made them so great.
One of the biggest skills of a role player is the ability to sacrifice, whether it be sacrifice some of the accolades that the media may give them or sacrifice their game to allow the stars to lead from the front, role players, according to Rondo, are the main reason the teams can be successful.
“A lot of teams don’t have players that are willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team, and you know that destroys the team,” Rondo said.
Of course, when a player like Rondo is allowed access to willing players, he can make them as threatening to the opposition as stars. With his exceptional court vision, high basketball IQ, and ability to blow-up and re-design offenses on the fly, Rondo was a teammate’s dream back in his prime.
Dwyane Wade, who battled Rondo during their primes, realized this about him after he joined forces with him on the Chicago Bulls.
How Rajon Rondo developed into an elite point guard
Contrary to popular belief, passing or court vision isn’t the most important trait to become a good PG. According to Rondo, it’s the ability to communicate effectively that made him the wizard he was on the court. Speaking about how he developed this skill, he credited Kevin Garnett for teaching him how to be loud as a floor general.
Now, Garnett is by no means a point guard. However, according to Rondo, he taught him how an open line of communication can help the whole team, especially when on the defensive end. As a guard, Rondo would generally defend guys at the top of the key, meaning he had no idea of anything happening behind him.
He revealed that KG would call out all the movement happening behind him to allow him to prevent his man from attacking at the top of the key. “KG’s like ‘screen screen screen’ and I’m like ‘this n***a’s in the paint still! Aight bet, I know what’s coming now, and I can force him left or right,'” Rondo explained.
Being a second year guard on the Celtics, especially with the big three of Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen, Rondo found it hard to get his voice going. But, it was Garnett’s veteran leadership and willingness to listen to the young guard that was essential in both his development as a player and Boston’s 2008 ring.
