Rondo at the helm of Celtics' future

     The Celtics are the greatest team in NBA history. Well, factually that is; their 17 championships are more than LA's 16, simple maths. But now in the present game, Boston seems to be slipping away from the glory days of Bird, Russell and Hondo. Pierce, Allen and Garnett make up possibly the best trio to come into Beantown in their 64 year history, but it seems that their time is passing. Both Allen and Garnett are over 34 years old and have played 14 and 15 years in the L respectively, while Pierce is entering his 12th season in the green and nearing 33 years of age.

     Then there's poor old Kendrick Perkins, who may have a nasty road ahead of him with the injury he picked up last post-season, still only 25. And as for Sheed and newly acquired Shaq, well need I go any further on that subject? So the key to the Celtics' future comes down to one man - a man drafted behind names such as Adam Morrison and Oleksiy Pecherov (yeah, I know). A man who crept behind our backs unnoticed to eventually earn himself a place on the 2010 All-Star team and All-Defensive First Team. A man who was the starting PG on a championship winning '08 Celtics team. A man who last year averaged a double-double on the Eastern Conference winning team.

 

     Rajon Pierre Rondo was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1986 to Amber Rondo. In his junior year in Louisville's Eastern High School, Rajon put up a more than respectable 28 points, 10 boards and 8 assists. Rondo was then transferred to the famous Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. This is when Rondo realised he had a future in basketball. "I went to Oak Hill, and I knew Josh Smith was going to the League" says the 6 year veteran. "I thought, OK if he's going to the League out of high school and I'm just as good as him, it gave me a lot of confidence". In his senior year he posted a nice season average of 21 points, 3 rebounds and 12 dimes. From here, Rondo turned down a scholarship to his hometown University of Louisville to attend University of Kentucky. While in this prestigious school, he averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals in his freshman year, and 11, 6, 5 and 2 respectively as a sophomore, good enough numbers to earn him a no. 21 pick by the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 NBA Draft. The rookie was involved in a draft day trade which sent him packing his bags for Boston.

     It took time for the UK man to make his way through the ranks in a team such as the Celtics who were having some trouble in the League themselves. In his rookie year, Rondo averaged 6 ppg, 4 apg, 3 rpg and 40% field goal (as apposed to Derrick Rose's rookie year; 17 ppg, 6 apg, 4 rpg, and 48% field goal). But Rondo has kept a strong self-confidence throughout his basketball career, always maintaining he was the best at what he did. During a section of TNT mid-way through last year's Playoffs, Charles Barkley gave his top 3 point guards in the League - Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Derrick Rose. On hearing this, Rondo just shrugged it off and said "That's just Charles, he's gonna speak his mind". When asked where he thinks he ranks among this list, his self-confidence - almost cockiness - showed again when he said "I think I’m one. I feel like I’m the best at what I do. That’s just how I put it. That’s how I play."


      However, with such self-confidence, critics are just waiting for a slip-up from last year's league leader in steals. Rondo says one of the reasons he thinks he's not on Chuck's list is because of the support he has in the Big Three - Williams, Paul and Rose "have to create everything for their teams" according to the pass-first point guard. So if Rondo continues to get better, and when "The Big Three" decide to call it a day, we will see for sure who is the league's best point guard.