Rajon Rondo Cements Legacy With Lakers, Throws Shade at Celtics

The former four-time All-Star point guard has an interesting perspective on his playing career.

Dec 19, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo (4) brings the ball up court against the Chicago Bulls during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images / Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

Former four-time NBA All-Star point guard Rajon Rondo may have peaked athletically while with the Boston Celtics, but the 6-foot-2 vet apparently values the championship he claimed with Boston's archnemesis, the Los Angeles Lakers, more than his 2008 title in Beantown.

During a recent interview on Golden State Warriors All-Defensive Team power forward Draymond Green's podcast "The Draymond Green Show," Rondo explained why he cherishes his 2020 L.A. championship over the 2008 Boston one. And it's for a very sentimental reason.

“You can’t compare the two honestly because in 2020, we were in the bubble so we didn’t get a parade. So I’ve only had one parade and that was the most amazing thing that’s happened to me in basketball,” Rondo said. “That type of love and reaction to see the fans, you’ve seen it this year, but to be a part of it, to get on a duck boat and go on a tour it was amazing. That’s the only opportunity I’ve got to have a parade but at that particular time I won it in 2020 my son was in the bubble with me and that made that moment a little more special winning it in 2020.”

Rondo's son, Pierre, was not yet born when Boston vanquished the Lakers in a six-game series. Rondo was a second-year starter then, though not yet in his All-Star prime. He was flanked in that first five by eventual Hall of Fame superstars Kevin Garnett (that season's Defensive Player of the Year), Paul Pierce (the Finals MVP), and Ray Allen, plus eventual ESPN talking head and hot-take specialist Kendrick Perkins. Those Celtics bested a Lakers squad led by that season's MVP, shooting guard Kobe Bryant, and his fellow eventual Hall of Famer Pau Gasol.

Los Angeles got its revenge when the two sides met again in the 2010 NBA Finals. The Lakers won a hard-fought seven-game series.

In 2020, Rondo was a well-traveled, injury-plagued veteran then in his second year with Los Angeles. After suffering a career-altering ACL tear while still with Boston, Rondo's All-Star glory days were permanently ended. But he was still able to rely on his superior IQ and elevate his game during the playoffs. During L.A.'s 2020 championship run, Rondo essentially became the Lakers' third-best player as a reserve. He was suiting up alongside eventual Hall of Famers LeBron James and Anthony Davis, so that's high praise indeed.

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