Rondo and a giddy Danny Ainge after the Celtics drafted him in 2006.
I think fans see him sometimes where he doesn’t play hard… it’s not because he’s decided not to play hard. It’s because he shut off because something has happened in the game and he’s thinking about it. And his biggest thing every year now is how quickly he can get over the negative, and understand there’s going to be negative in every game.
Rajon Rondo has been sort of an enigma since being drafted 21st overall in the 2006 NBA draft. At times he looks like a superstar by controlling the game and inverting the court. At other times he looks like a malcontent destine to never reach his full potential.
Over the last two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, Rajon Rondo has acted and played like a consummate professional. That’s not to say he wasn’t always that way. He was just– quite simply– growing up.
Everybody struggles with self confidence and Rondo is no different.
No. 9 seems to be like so many other players of this generation– afraid to fail– and it doesn’t help that his biggest critic is himself. However, this is all apart of the growing process and to become great you have to fail.
