The Curious Case of Rajon Rondo

Of all the former University of Kentucky Wildcats currently in the NBA, of which there are a lot, Rajon Rondo produces the most lukewarm response from the Big Blue Nation. He was a highly rated recruit brought in by former head coach Tubby Smith from Louisville’s Eastern High by way of Oak Hill Academy in Virginia. By joining fellow high school All-Americans Joe Crawford and Randolph Morris, Rondo was the jewel of the 2004 recruiting class that seemed poised to return the Wildcats to the Final Four.

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In his two uneven seasons in Lexington, Rondo showed flashes of promise, but could never nudge the Wildcats back to the national semifinals. As a freshman, he set a UK single season record of 87 steals. As a sophomore, he set a single game record for rebounds in a game (for a guard) with 19 against Iowa. Rondo finished his second season for the Cats with averages of 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists and 2.1 steals. While not necessarily eye-popping, Rajon Rondo was clearly a versatile player and decided to forgo his last two seasons of eligibility and enter the 2006 NBA Draft where he was selected 21 overall by the Phoenix Suns.

Rajon Rondo was traded to the Boston Celtics shortly after the draft. In his second season in Boston, Rondo was the starting point guard and with veterans Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, brought the Celtics the organization’s 17th NBA title. The following post season, even though the Celtics didn’t repeat, Rajon averaged 16.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 9.8 assists, showing the versatility that he hinted at while at Kentucky. Rondo’s 4th season (2009-10) saw him being named as an NBA All-Star as he led Boston back to the NBA Finals where they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in 7 games. Despite his on-court success, the age-old axiom proved true: “all good things must come to an end.”

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On December 18, 2014, the Boston Celtics traded Rajon Rondo to the Dallas Mavericks, officially severing ties with the lone holdover from the 2008 NBA Championship team. With Allen, Garnett and longtime Celtic Pierce gone, the prickliness of Rondo’s personality became too much for the changing franchise to bear as Boston worked to rebuild into a championship caliber team once again. ESPN’s Baxter Holmes wrote a detailed piece about how Rondo is almost a savant at basketball and numbers, but remains a puzzling enigma to people. It’s not that he’s done anything wrong or is a bad person, but it appears that he’s hard to read and doesn’t go out of his way to endear himself to anyone.

So here he sits, at a career crossroads. After a disastrous turn in Dallas, Rondo signed with the Sacramento Kings this offseason. In Sacramento, Rajon joins former Wildcats Willie Cauley-Stein and DeMarcus Cousins, who’s trying to right his own ship. The questions for Rajon Rondo that everyone will be looking for answers to are: Can he still be an elite NBA point guard? Now that he’s older, will Rondo be the team leader the Kings need? Will he, can he, finally open up and learn how to be a people person or at least not come off as aloof and condescending? The only person that can answer these questions is Rajon Rondo.

Personally, Rondo has been one of those players where, yes, he played at UK and he is a former Wildcat, but there was always something off. Again, he never did anything on or off the court that could be considered wrong or even bad form. He just never seemed to make the connection with the fans or even his teammates like so many other talented players have done while in Lexington. I believe that once a Wildcat, you’re always a Wildcat and I wish Rondo nothing but the best. I hope he can put his best forward and help Cousins and Cauley-Stein turnaround a Kings franchise that needs some leadership. If Rondo can help solve that problem, he won’t be so much of an enigma himself.