LeBron James On What Separates Rajon Rondo From Other NBA Players

After missing nearly eight weeks because of a fractured right thumb, Rajon Rondo has been key for the Lakers in the playoffs.

We've long heard of the myth of Playoff Rondo. 

After a lackluster season, he magically morphs into a highly efficient and productive player in the playoffs. 

"It’s real," Anthony Davis said after the Lakers' 112-102 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 3 on Tuesday. "Playoff Rondo is real."

In his third game back after missing nearly eight weeks because of a fractured right thumb, Rondo had 21 points on eight-for-11 shooting and nine assists on Tuesday. 

Rondo scored 12 of them in the fourth quarter, helping the Lakers outscore the Rockets, 30-20, after entering the quarter knotted at 82-82. He did that while playing excellent defense on James Harden, holding him to just five points on one-for-four shooting in the final 12 minutes. 

"I love competing against the best," Rondo said. "And right now, in our game, he’s arguably the best two guard of my time, my era. So each time I get a chance to match up with him, I look forward, along with Russ [Westbrook]. And it’s been fun. Like I said, the best thing about this experience is being able to compete at a high level, getting to play each other over and over again. It’s a chess match. We make adjustments, they make adjustments, and that’s what I thrive off of and I love. Love competing."

LeBron James has said all season long that Rondo is one of the smartest players in the NBA. 

He had competed against him for years and couldn't wait to have him as a teammate when the stakes were highest. 

After Tuesday's game, James said Rondo can read and react in real-time in a way most players can't.   

"It’s easy to be, like, let’s say a Monday morning quarterback," James said. "It’s easy to go and watch the film on Monday after you play Sunday, and be able to look at the defender playing over the top and say, ‘I shouldn’t have passed it there.’ Or the linebacker dropping back in zone and say, ‘I shouldn’t have thrown the comeback route.’ Things of that nature. It’s easy to kind of do that. That’s needed, though. You definitely need that. But being able to make adjustments on the fly and being able to see how defenses are playing and being able to see how the game is being played and being able to see how the flow of the game is being played -- there’s not many guys that can do that in our league. And in the postseason, it’s gigantic. And having ‘Do on your side definitely helps."

After four months off because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Rondo sustained the thumb injury in the Lakers' second practice of the resumed NBA season on July 12 at Walt Disney World. He was set to make his return nearly seven weeks later in Game 3 of the team's first-round playoff series agains the Portland Trail Blazers on Aug. 22, but experienced another setback, suffering back spasms that kept him out of the next three games. 

Rondo acknowledged that the past two months were trying. 

"It was very frustrating, like any injury or setback, but in my career, 14 years, gonna have those," Rondo said. "And everything happens for a reason. And obviously the man upstairs is talking to me, and I had to be still for another moment. My teammates were texting and wishing me luck, I was on every Zoom call with the coaches. I was still a part of the team, it was just a matter of me being there physically, so I never felt I was away from the team. And I was able to stay locked in with those guys through Zoom."

Rondo made his return in Game 1 against the Rockets on Sept. 4. He struggled a bit, finishing with eight points on three-for-nine shooting and four turnovers in the Lakers' 112-97 loss. 

But he quickly turned things around. 

In the Lakers' 117-109 win over the Rockets in Game 2 on Sunday, he had 10 points and nine assists. He played excellent defense, affected passing lanes, was scrappy and finished with the highest plus-minus rating (28) of any player on the court. 

"I put a lot of time in in film," Rondo said. "I was very critical of myself in Game 1, even though I haven’t played in six months. I still have high expectations for my play. I had four turnovers in that game and a lot of them were self-inflicted. I wanted to come back in the follow-up game and take care of the ball, which I did. And so I gave myself a shot to be out there on the floor, taking care of the ball and finding teammates. And that’s what I do."

Rondo, a four-time All-Star and one-time NBA champion in 2008, averaged 7.1 points, three rebounds and five assists in 20.5 minutes a game before the season was suspended March 11.

Lakers coach Frank said he always knew Rondo would turn things up a notch in the postseason.

"All season, I expected this come this time of the year," Vogel said. "Of course, obviously when you miss as much time as he missed, you don’t know how quickly he will get his legs under him. I do know he worked extremely hard, before he came back in the bubble. And when he came back in the bubble, so hard actually he hurt his back a little bit and recovered quickly from that. He’s been really really persistent with his work so when he gets his legs under him, you know what kind of gamer he is, this time of the year. He has been spectacular the last two games."

The only person who is skeptical of Playoff Rondo may be Rondo himself. 

During his walk-off interview on Tuesday with Spectrum SportsNet, he was asked if the myth is real. 

"I don't buy into it," he said. 

James joked that if Rondo feels that way, then he does too. 

"At the end of the day, whatever makes ‘Do continue to play like he’s playing," James said.