After making a huge name for himself during his college years, Rajon was drafted to Boston Celtics in the 2006 NBA draft. ""It's all calculated. ("He doesn't sleep," Doo says.) Warning: This story contains explicit language.KG helped Rondo unleash his fireBaxter Holmes: Kevin Garnett found a kindred spirit in Rajon Rondo and helped the relentless point guard unleash his fire on the NBA.KEVIN GARNETT IS fighting midafternoon traffic along the main arteries pumping cars into lower Manhattan, the roads bracketed by mounds of snow that have suffocated the region. Tony Snell #19. The sellout crowd, many donning No. Simmering beneath their blowup is a harsh reality, one that Carlisle surely knows: Before acquiring Rondo, the Mavericks were 19-8 with the league's most efficient offense (113.6 points per 100 possessions); leading up to this game, they're 19-12 with him, and their scoring is better when he's off the court (104.4/100 possessions) than when he's on it (103.1). Questions like, What the hell is Rajon Rondo so damn mad about? Mark Duncan/AP Images, AMONG NBA OBSERVERS, and especially in Boston, the notion is so well-worn that if it were carved in stone, it would be shiny from overuse: Doc Rivers left the Celtics in 2013 just to escape Rajon Rondo. "When there are stakes, he's at his best, torching LeBron James and the Cavaliers for 29 points, 13 assists and 18 rebounds in the 2010 playoffs; dropping 44, 10 and 8 on the Heat in the 2012 playoffs; lighting up Jeremy Lin during the peak of Linsanity for 18, 20 and 17. Playoff Rondo was literally historically good for the Lakers 109 Lakers veteran Rajon Rondo was not just great in the playoffs. Rondo is, even if he's well past his heyday. All told he scores the Mavs' first 10 points, hits his first seven shots and finishes the blowout win with a season-high 29 points and a career-high five 3-pointers. Rondo was brought in to Dallas during the end of … "I didn't understand how he got the cop's number," Rondo says, referencing a certain scene. Recently, LeBron James got a ton of attention for his ability to call out opponents’ plays before they even happen, but Rondo might be just as good at doing so. Thibs would look down at his little sheet and be like, 'Oh yeah, it is.' LeBron on Rajon Rondo’s decision to leave the Lakers for the Hawks: “Good luck my G! -- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, describing his response after losing to Rondo in Connect FourMore from the Point Guard IssuePablo S. Torre: Lin's life after LinsanityDave Fleming: The legacy of the Curry familyTim Struby: How Tony Parker is cheating timeSubscribe to the MagIT'S FEB. 24, and the Mavericks are trailing the Raptors by nine points early in the third quarter. Ask Rondo to describe the workings of his mind and he'll call it "a blessing and a curse." "He's a very emotional guy, but he doesn't want anybody to see it. It was too much Rondo, which lifts some of the enormous pressure off James and Anthony Davis, which is the only way they win a championship. Rondo makes a lot of sense on the Clippers roster. When a 90-second tribute plays on the video screen above, he barely acknowledges it.It is nothing if not classic Rajon. That's a Rondo." Rajon Rondo is an American basketball player who was born and raised in Kentucky. Note, this is done in … Growing up in the College Court development near downtown Louisville, Rondo wouldn't play with other children his age. In a recent piece by ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan on Rajon Rondo’s resurgence in the NBA Finals, Rondo told a story of how he chastised James for his poor body language around the young Lakers. Rajon Rondo opted out of player option with the LA Lakers and will be a free agent in the upcoming offseason. Warning: This story contains explicit language. Rajon Rondo zodiac sign is a Pisces. He shows little emotion along the way. An advance scout in the locker room. "They were trying to calm me down. It's an unseasonably chilly day; both men are wearing light practice gear. -- Rajon Rondo IT'S 9:30 ON a February morning in 1994, and eight third-grade students at downtown Louisville's Engelhard Elementary School file into a classroom. ", "He got all excited afterward. “Guys found me when I was open, I took some shots with confidence and I got some easy layups.”. Erman and then-Warriors assistant Brian Scalabrine looked at each other, stunned: How in the hell did he know that? by Eli Saslow, It isn't Kobe's taunts or humiliating viral videos that have made this the toughest year of Jeremy Lin's life. They called the play. Matt Vasgersian, an MLB Network and ESPN announcer and the former play-by-play voice of the Padres, will replace Victor Rojas as the voice of the Angels. As Rondo pointed out, it’s because he takes such good care of his body. I'd say, 'Why would you change that?' Getty Rajon Rondo of the Los Angeles Lakers. It was too late. "He was just pushing and he was just pushing and he was just pushing," Garnett recalls. "He kicked the door off the hinges," Garnett says. I told him to learn how to make a shot." Kentucky's coach is turning college basketball on its head. "That's that alpha fire that's in you. The Lakers have just become clear title favorites. Cam Reddish #22. Lots of reasons. He wouldn't bring his books. You looked at him like, 'You little asshole.' KEVIN GARNETT IS fighting midafternoon traffic along the main arteries pumping cars into lower Manhattan, the roads bracketed by mounds of snow that have suffocated the region. Rondo is shooting 30.9 percent outside the paint, the lowest rate since his rookie season, and 31.1 percent from the free throw line (not a typo), by far the lowest of his career. And it's here, back in his car, still fighting through traffic, that Garnett pauses, sighs and takes a deep breath. They all don't learn at the same level. Carlisle angrily storms onto the hardwood at American Airlines Center, screaming for a timeout and then at Rondo to run the assigned play. Doo always sought activities to keep Rondo engaged -- golf, tennis, a home run derby with softballs, pool, pingpong, throwing footballs off the wall into a trash can, unorthodox workouts, printing out math equations and racing to solve them first, trying to top each other in Lumosity brain games, designed to improve cognitive abilities. They build on it. " In time, Rivers even allowed Rondo to call games like a catcher in baseball, providing a list of five or six plays Rivers wanted him to run that day. “He’s just doing a hell of a job for us,” said Kyle Kuzma, who added 14 points. Once, when Erman was with the Warriors, his team ran a side out-of-bounds play, called C, that he says they'd run maybe 15 times all season. And the Lakers have never been scarier. "I'm watching the game," Bibby would tell him. “All we did was do our job,” Rondo said. “Those young guys were looking at everything … Rondo and Rivers had drag-out arguments too, Rondo stewing for days before allowing himself to enter Rivers' office. -- Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, describing his response after losing to Rondo in Connect Four, Pablo S. Torre: Lin's life after Linsanity, Dave Fleming: The legacy of the Curry family, Tim Struby: How Tony Parker is cheating time. "If you expect something crazy out of me, I'll probably figure out a way to get it done." I told him to learn how to make a shot." Rondo would study the sheet before games and during timeouts, placing it on the floor between his feet. Selfish? "If you can't keep up with him up here," Doo says, pointing to his head, "he won't listen to you.". Rajon Rondo’s zodiac sign is Pisces. Rajon Rondo’s zodiac sign is Pisces. The boy grasps concepts instantly and easily. Or perhaps she'll ask the quiet boy with narrow cheeks who questions just about everyone about everything to formulate math equations for her to solve.She knows that for as wildly gifted as this 9-year-old is, he can be just as frustrated with others who are not. Now, Rondo sheds some more light on what makes LeBron so dominant. He couldn't. "Our biggest disagreements were usually over 'Stop outsmarting yourself,' because he's so far ahead of the next action. In his rookie season, he earned a place in the NBA All-Rookie Second Team and proved his mettle. "Well, I'm out here and I'm feeling the game," Rondo would fire back. An assistant bet him that he couldn't do it. With Rajon Rondo struggling to fit in Atlanta, Kendrick Perkins believe the Boston Celtics should bring the veteran back to the team for more depth. A look at some of those changes. He'd say, 'Just in case.' Rondo is talented and, from all reports, was a great veteran presence for his Los Angeles team this year. That's a Rondo." They called the play. Rondo was his star -- a de facto assistant coach, helping break down film and develop game plans -- but with the ball in his hands, he was known to audible away from his coach's playcalls. "If you can't keep up with him up here," Doo says, pointing to his head, "he won't listen to you. Kris Dunn #32. Bogdan Bogdanovic #13. The Lakers have been hungry for a veteran leader to take some of the playmaking pressure off LeBron James. When a 90-second tribute plays on the video screen above, he barely acknowledges it. "He was just pushing and he was just pushing and he was just pushing," Garnett recalls. ” I always told him, 'Don't ever apologize for that, because that's your mojo, that's what makes you who you are.' On the best of days, Celtics coach Doc Rivers rides Rajon Rondo hard, pushing his stubborn point guard as only a former stubborn point guard can. Rajon Rondo has established himself as one of the best passers in the NBA, always among the top 5 in assists year in and year out. Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo got the last laugh over Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook in their mini on-court spat on Friday at Capital One Arena. -- Doc Rivers, When there are stakes -- even stakes as simple as challenges from a teammate -- Rondo is at his best. "I've never had to do that before," Rivers says, "but it was awesome." "I didn't want to let up," Rondo says. "He was just so fucking hot," Garnett says, reliving the moment. "It's not that he doesn't want to do what you say," Bibby says. He'd ask, 'Well why wouldn't we do it this way?' When I say he was hot, he was hot. Flooded with Hollywood and media workers, Pasadena cancels COVID-19 vaccine clinic. Sometimes I'd answer, 'Well, which way do you want to do it?' His high-flying dunk over Dwight Howard in 2009? It was a night James became the NBA all-time leader in playoff wins, yet that wasn’t even the biggest story. The Celtics considered him a pseudo-advance scout, listening and looking for cues from the opponent, then calling out exactly what they were about to do.Before Rondo's first playoff series against Atlanta in 2008, the Celtics distributed a 100-page book full of the Hawks' plays and statistics. "On this night, Rondo is announced last in the Mavs' starting lineup, and Celtics PA man Eddie Palladino gives him the home cadence intro, bellowing loud and slow, just like old times, "Raaaaaaaajon Rondooooooooo!" But he's got to be able to control it.- Kevin GarnettStanding outside the practice facility, near a road that slopes sharply upward toward the main entrance, Rondo, still boiling, looks at Garnett: "I need a second." Posted by fightingtigers98 on 1/29/21 at 10:35 pm to diddlydawg7 I think the two years in purgatory with Dallas and Sacramento really hurt him. Vogel Doesn’t Like the ‘Playoff Rondo’ Idea. And I would say, 'Well, they haven't countered yet, so let's not change until they counter.' He didn't do homework. Rondo took it home, then challenged assistant Darren Erman the next morning: "Quiz me on anything." "He's my friend," says ex-teammate Kendrick Perkins, "but he knows he's too smart. It's a method she invented two decades ago. Don't let it control you.' Now that's the question. Rajon Rondo and his tenure with the Dallas Mavericks Sep 10, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Rajon Rondo (9) controls the ball against the Houston Rockets in the second half in game four of the second round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs at AdventHealth Arena. Returning home from Nets practice, he has no problem recalling the scene almost four years earlier -- a locker room film session at the practice facility of the Celtics, his former team.More on Rajon RondoGarnett helped Rondo unleash his fire Davis scored 26, but scored only one basket with no rebounds in the fourth quarter. Rajon Pierre Rondo (born February 22, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Hawks of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Simmering beneath their blowup is a harsh reality, one that Carlisle surely knows: Before acquiring Rondo, the Mavericks were 19-8 with the league's most efficient offense (113.6 points per 100 possessions); leading up to this game, they're 19-12 with him, and their scoring is better when he's off the court (104.4/100 possessions) than when he's on it (103.1). “[Rondo] frees up AD and LeBron from having to do too much … he has the ability to orchestrate a game like very few players that I have ever been around,” Vogel said. Trae Young #11. Baxter Holmes »What he's struggling with is how to describe it, to properly explain what happened in that room that afternoon. As he's hauling the 6-foot-1, 186-pound point guard, the 6-11 Garnett barks, "Get outside, man, shit," physically carrying Rondo outside the room, then the building. Rondo opens the game with a layup, then swishes a pair of rainbow 3-pointers. Mavericks player development coach Mike Procopio, a Boston native who helped scout Rondo for the Celtics years ago, rebounds for him. Garnett obliges. Anthony Davis joined Giannis Antetokoumpo and Rudy Gobert on the NBA All-Defensive first team. Just super tense." Full Roster. Hitting 49 of 50 free throws in a gym? Rondo is suspended for the Mavs' next game. "I'll never forget: I had to pick him up and carry him out because it was going like that, and the locker room was suuuper tense. Appearing on the Heavy Live With Scoop B Show, NBA legend Rod Strickland raved about Rondo’s leadership. Rondo (back) finished with seven points (3-4 FG, 1-2 3pt), three rebounds and one assist over 14 minutes in Tuesday's 112-111 loss to the Cavaliers. The day he was traded to Dallas in December, he spent his final hours as a Celtic at Boston Children's Hospital, crushing all comers in the game, repeatedly telling kids, "No mercy."). I get it. Just ask fans of the 2008 champion Boston Celtics. Rajon Rondo has established himself as one of the best passers in the NBA, always among the top 5 in assists year in and year out. "I'm watching the game," Bibby would tell him. He wants to be coached, but when you coach him, you'd better know what you're talking about. Shut up.' "That's ridiculous," Rivers says. "He just thinks he has a better approach. "Bibby, it's worth noting, was also the school's basketball coach. Matt Vasgersian will take over play-by-play duties for the Angels. It's just getting him to admit it. It's all good. We don’t win it without you. “Teague seems to be good in Atlanta and Rondo gets to come back full circle with Boston.” Boston should throw a bunch of stuff at Atlanta for Collins. Mavericks player development coach Mike Procopio, a Boston native who helped scout Rondo for the Celtics years ago, rebounds for him. -- Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who traded Rondo to Dallas in December, After playing with Rondo on the Celtics, Kevin Garnett knows exactly what's going on in Dallas. In the coming years when he joined subsequent teams, such as Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings, … That is a challenge for coaches to be creative, just like it would be for a teacher in a classroom." "He just thinks he has a better approach. Hawks Quick Links. Erman and then-Warriors assistant Brian Scalabrine looked at each other, stunned: How in the hell did he know that?A second coach on the court. He aced all his tests, which led Bibby to suspect Rondo of cheating, so the teacher gave Rondo different tests. I get it. " Today, though, they talk, standing outside for 40 minutes. IT'S FEB. 24, and the Mavericks are trailing the Raptors by nine points early in the third quarter. Skylar Mays #4. The 50-inch flat-screen, mounted on a cart in the center of the room, shatters. And that's his problem. The … Their paths would cross most … In series that are tied 1-all, the winner of Game 3 wins the series 74% of the time. It's OK. And it drives him crazy. It is nothing if not classic Rajon. … He's a coach on the floor even when he's not playing he's coaching. What worked and what didn’t. "That's not in there." (Rondo's Connect Four prowess has since become legendary and has made for heartwarming-yet-awkward community outreach moments. "I always wanted to set the curve. LeBron on Rajon Rondo’s decision to leave the Lakers for the Hawks: “Good luck my G! "He was hot, yo. "You've got to have your shit together," Garnett says. by Pablo S. Torre, Forget the pursuit of one perfect season. "Shorty doesn't always listen to everybody," Garnett says. We don’t win it without you. Rondo would play on their porch, decimating friends and family deep into the night while his mother worked the graveyard shift at the Philip Morris factory to support her four kids. ". Rajon Rondo will miss six to eight weeks with a fractured thumb. You looked at him like, 'You little asshole.' 2. He also knows that the point guard is once again raising those age-old questions, the ones that surfaced in that Celtics film session and are resurfacing now, down the homestretch of a season with a playoff contender, prior to the most important free agency summer of Rondo's career. As Rondo sluggishly takes the ball upcourt following a Raptors basket that came after he fumbled away an offensive rebound, he dribbles up the far sideline from Carlisle, seemingly -- if not willfully -- ignoring his coach's effort to gain his attention. ", Says Rondo, "If there are two coaches on the floor, you're not always going to be on the same page. -- Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who faced Rondo twice in the Finals and whose public breakfast with Rondo in December fueled speculation he's recruiting Rondo to come to LA next season, A former stubborn point guard himself, Rivers can handle Rondo in ways that others can't. I always told him, 'Don't ever apologize for that, because that's your mojo, that's what makes you who you are.' " In time, Rivers even allowed Rondo to call games like a catcher in baseball, providing a list of five or six plays Rivers wanted him to run that day. Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo got the last laugh over Washington Wizards star Russell Westbrook in their mini on-court spat on Friday at … He hasn't posted a double-digit assist game in his past 15 starts -- this from a man who three years earlier compiled 37 such games in a row. Rondo glances across the room at Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal. ", Still, as much as Rondo wanted to win, he loathed defeat even more, a competitiveness that found an outlet in all things -- great and small -- but most famously in the game Connect Four. His last theater walkout: The Equalizer, starring Denzel Washington. Rondo nailed every question, until Erman tossed a curveball -- a question about something that wasn't in the book. What wasn’t expected was that the Lakers, inspired by Rondo, beat the Rockets at their own game. James ended the quarter with one of his four amazing chase-down block shots, this one of an Austin Rivers layup, and the stage was set. The Celtics considered him a pseudo-advance scout, listening and looking for cues from the opponent, then calling out exactly what they were about to do. And it is Anthony Davis.”. " Kevin Garnett found a kindred spirit in Rajon Rondo and helped the relentless point guard unleash his fire on the NBA. "I've never had to do that before," Rivers says, "but it was awesome." 2 weeks ago Atlanta Hawks guard Rajon Rondo (back) is listed as probable for Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. They talk later that night from their homes too, another half an hour or more on the phone. He aced all his tests, which led Bibby to suspect Rondo of cheating, so the teacher gave Rondo different tests. Rivers, fed up, gives Garnett an order: "I want Rondo out." But this day is different. Forget the pursuit of one perfect season. "He was just so fucking hot," Garnett says, reliving the moment. Plaschke has appeared in a movie (“Ali”), a dramatic HBO series (“Luck”) and, in a crowning cultural moment he still does not quite understand, his name can be found in a rap song “Females Welcome” by Asher Roth. He looked awful. Rondo is shooting 30.9 percent outside the paint, the lowest rate since his rookie season, and 31.1 percent from the free throw line (not a typo), by far the lowest of his career.The shouting match lasts through the timeout, and Rondo doesn't play the rest of the game, slouching on the bench, a towel over his head, as his backup, Devin Harris, leads the team to a come-from-behind 99-92 victory.The shouting between Rondo and Carlisle continues in the locker room after the game. Clippers Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverley are on second team. And that's his problem. “Rajon is an intense competitor, a proven winner and a true student of the game,” Hawks general manager Travis Schlenk said in a statement. He has a curious knack for analyzing numbers in ways that others do not -- so much so that he actually teaches the teacher new ways to solve equations, methods she'll go on to teach other students for years to come.He finishes every assignment first, blazing through multiplication sheets, and the teacher knows to always have another activity ready, either in her hand or in a blue folder with work just for him. Kentucky's coach is turning college basketball on its head. "That's that fire, man," Garnett says, every syllable punctuated with his signature fury. Houston’s Austin Rivers grabs a rebound in front of the Lakers’ Rajon Rondo during the second half Tuesday in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill), Plaschke: LeBron James and Anthony Davis need help to win Lakers title — and they just found it, ‘You are all safe’: the night COVID-19 shut down the NBA — and, soon, all of sports, Lost Year: How high school athletes coped during COVID-19 pandemic. "Says Garnett, "The kid cares more than people think. Brandon Goodwin #0. LeBron James’s trainer is the reason as to why James is so good. -- Celtics GM Danny Ainge, who traded Rondo to Dallas in DecemberAfter playing with Rondo on the Celtics, Kevin Garnett knows exactly what's going on in Dallas. But he's got to be able to control it. Dates of Pisces are February 19 - March 20. “When guys are making the same mistakes over and over and over, it’s hard to bite your tongue but I tried to get [James] to focus on his body language. — Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpearsESPN) July 1, 2016. Kennedy has since come out as gay, and the nature of Rondo's derogatory remark has been revealed as unambiguously homophobic -- he reportedly called Kennedy "a motherf**king faggot" during the game. Mark Duncan/AP ImagesAMONG NBA OBSERVERS, and especially in Boston, the notion is so well-worn that if it were carved in stone, it would be shiny from overuse: Doc Rivers left the Celtics in 2013 just to escape Rajon Rondo. ", "It's all calculated. Pleasure teaming up with you these last 2 years. Why is Matt Beaty spending time in right field? Baxter Holmes: Kevin Garnett found a kindred spirit in Rajon Rondo and helped the relentless point guard unleash his fire on the NBA. "He just didn't understand why everyone else doesn't get it," recalls Melanie Benitez, still teaching at Engelhard, 21 years later. One of these children is what their teacher will one day call "the biggest challenge of my life.". Naturally, after playing well for a second consecutive game Tuesday, he was completely nonplussed. He didn't do homework. Rajon Rondo has recently raved about playing with James and how he has always wanted to team up with the Lakers star ever since the 2017 NBA Finals. But that's his swag. Anthony Davis, two Clippers selected to NBA All-Defensive team. I don't know what, but that's it." But he has a plan to change all that: Make more money. He knows when he's wrong. Sometimes I'd answer, 'Well, which way do you want to do it?' You know what happened next. Because of a hand injury suffered shortly after he entered the bubble, Rondo was appearing in his first game in six months, and he looked like it. Danny Bollinger/NBAE/Getty Images, IT'S JAN. 2, some 90 minutes after the Mavs' morning shootaround has wrapped up at TD Garden, and Rajon Rondo is still on the parquet. We would run a play that works and he would come down and change the play. In his postgame news conference, Carlisle calls the fracas a "difference of opinion" but refuses to elaborate. by Tommy Tomlinson, Once one of college basketball's brightest coaches, Jason Rabedeaux died mysteriously in Saigon, leaving his loved ones and colleagues to grapple with how far he'd fallen. "Fuck you," Rondo said. The greatness Tuesday night began late in the third quarter with the Lakers trailing by three. Michael Dwyer/AP ImagesTHE NEWBORN'S ENORMOUS hands dropped jaws at University of Louisville Hospital. "I always wanted to set the curve. Teammates and coaches would universally claim that Rondo has some sort of photographic memory -- he doesn't deny it -- and former Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau, now head coach of the Bulls, says that by the time they'd watch game film the morning after, Rondo had already reviewed the footage two or three times. Greedy? He couldn't. Growing up in the College Court development near downtown Louisville, Rondo wouldn't play with other children his age. "It's like being in the classroom with 30-some kids. In a few hours, he'll face the team that two weeks earlier dealt him for a surprisingly modest package of picks and players, and he'll face the fans who were always so quick to criticize him. Hitting 49 of 50 free throws in a gym? Rondo maintains a close circle, but during his eight-plus seasons in Boston, he was as close with Doo as anyone. ")Rondo is adept at poker -- computing probabilities, counting cards -- emptying teammates' pockets. He's a whiz at bourré, the famously contentious card game that's fractured many an NBA locker room. Rajon Rondo Time Remember Lost One-on-one is different than actually going through picks, hitting the floor, playing 5-on-5, getting back in transition, making quick moves without thinking about it. She invented it for Rajon Rondo.Follow ESPN Reader on Twitter: @ESPN_ReaderJoin the conversation about "Good At Math, Bad At People.". In … Rondo is around the same age as LeBron so he probably took note of how the superstar has been able to stay effective. "Fuck you," Rondo said. "He's going to be somebody special," the obstetrician told the boy's mother, Amber Rondo. His smart and savvy play squeezes every bit of energy out of them. "When he blew the TV up, it was about to go in another direction -- like, the whole thing," Garnett says, his voice rising. Then he takes off, running. So, as a player with the Lakers’ highest basketball IQ is wont to do, he studied film and examined tendencies. The Lakers’ championship run has just become a sprint. Kevin Garnett found a kindred spirit in Rajon Rondo and helped the relentless point guard unleash his fire on the NBA. Because [Rajon] Rondo was talking s—, he decided he wanted to hop in, too. Conversely, Rondo was given 19 minutes in the Jazz loss and did not look good. The Pisces zodiac sign are the dreamers and mystics of the zodiac. "He's a contrarian. But he's got to be able to control it. Garnett sees. For a brilliant stretch, he was everywhere and everything. Many of them have lives filled with fantasy, magic and wonder. Bill Plaschke has been an L.A. Times columnist since 1996. That alpha fire. Rajon Rondo - Career stats, game logs, biographical info, awards, and achievements for the NBA and NCAA. Then on the next possession he hit another three. For as good as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are, they aren't playmakers in a pure sense. Rajon Rondo #7. Standing outside the practice facility, near a road that slopes sharply upward toward the main entrance, Rondo, still boiling, looks at Garnett: "I need a second."