Bucks News: Doc Rivers Finally Explains Rajon Rondo's Coaching Role

Rondo joined the staff for training camp.

David Richard-Imagn Images

Former Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, who played under Doc Rivers when he was the head coach of the Celtics, joined the Milwaukee Bucks as an assistant coach in training camp. Rondo came in as a guest coach during training camp and is expected to continue in that role throughout the 2024-25 regular season.

Rondo has not taken up a full-time coaching role with the Bucks because he is still testing out the job. If Rondo does decide to pursue coaching full-time, Rivers has full faith in his ability to succeed in the position.

“I knew he would coach if he wanted to do that,” Rivers said last Monday, via Mass Live.

“He definitely is the smartest player I’ve ever coached. It’s been a two year thing of me trying to get him to do it. You know, he kind of dabbled in it, he kind of looks at it.”

Rondo is aware of the sacrifice that would come with becoming a full-time coach. "There's a lot of factors that go into coaching," Rondo said in early October, via Baxter Holmes of ESPN. "You just can't say, I'm going to be a coach, and then everything works out and that's how it happens. So certain personalities have to mesh, [and there's] a lot of sacrifice. There are certain things that I'm learning. The morning meetings, the amount of hours you're spending watching film, it's a lot."

Another reason Rondo is only part-time at the moment is because he is additionally training his son.

“He’s got a son, it’s not that he didn’t want to be a coach,” Rivers said. “He’s got a son that’s a really talented player and he’s working with him. We’re crafting out a schedule right now to try to give him enough time to be there and to be with us.”

“The one thing I can tell you just through training camp that he spent, he’s hooked now, he loves it,” Rivers said, via Mass Live. “It’s in him and once he gets in you, you can’t get out of you. So that was my goal.”

Over his 16-year NBA career, Rondo was a four-time NBA All-Star and two-time NBA champion.

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