Rajon Rondo recently made an appearance on JJ Redick’s ‘Old Man & The Three’ podcast. During the show, the former Boston Celtics champion
discussed his penchant for trying to ‘outcoach’ opposing coaches.
“With me when I’m playing a game, I’m not necessarily playing against a player,” Rondo said. “A great example is when I was going against the
Celtics, when I played for the Bulls, my whole mindset, this entire series was to beat Brad Stevens … Because I’m thinking my mindset is thinking,
how can I beat the coach? How can I outcoach the coach? I feel like I have the power and I’m involved in the game, so have more of an influence and
an impact that I can make versus a coach yelling from the sidelines.”
The series that Rondo is discussing is from the 2017 playoffs, where the Chicago Bulls went two games ahead of Boston before the former Celtics
suffered an injury. Many Celtics fans believe that if Rondo never got hurt, Chicago would probably have won that series.
Throughout his career, Rondo developed a reputation for being a cerebral point guard. Openly admitting that he’s trying to outthink the opposing
coach is further proof of Rondo’s high basketball IQ. Most importantly, that desire to outthink his opponent is what could lead to the former
champion becoming a head coach once his playing career is over.
Should Rondo choose to enter the coaching ranks, he would be wise to follow in the footsteps of Ime Udoka and Chauncey Billups. Both were former
NBA players who learned the ropes under elite coaches before taking the next step. It may be years until we see Rondo barking out instructions to his
team; however, it’s clear that taking that next step is the logical evolution of an exceptional on-court career.
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Brad Stevens gives promising update on Kristaps Porzingis injury
Kristaps Porzingis is a big part of the Celtics plans for next season after the team gave him a two-year extension last month. However, when exactly
the 7-foot-3 big man would be able to suit up for Boston remained a question mark after the former Wizard was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis in his
foot earlier this month, forcing him to sit out the FIBA World Cup for his home country of Latvia.
In an appearance on Jones and Mego as part of the NESN/WEEI Jimmy Fund telethon on Tuesday, Brad Stevens gave a promising update on
Porzingis’ condition and his outlook for the upcoming season.
“I’m not concerned about that,” Stevens said of the foot injury. “He’s at the FIBA Tournament with the team so he’s doing his rehab there. We were
with him in the 10 days, our training staff was with him (before the tournament) as he was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis. He went through all the
progressions and he really tried to ramp up and play. He just determined he didn’t want to deal with lingering effects down the road.
“This is something that we should be able to navigate and manage in the next few weeks and be ready for training camp. We’re planning on having
him for Day 1 of training camp. He really wanted to try the ramp-up because it really mattered to be there (at the World Cup).”
The Celtics were not aware of the foot injury when they dealt away Marcus Smart, Danilo Gallinari and Mike Muscala as part of the three-team deal
to acquire Porzingis in June. However, Stevens was confident that the foot injury would not be a long-term issue for the 2024-25 season.
“You never know how it all ends up,” Stevens admitted. “From a sports science perspective and physical therapists, they are as good as I’ve been
around about navigating. and managing that if we do this now, we’ll be in good shape. If you manage it, if you treat it correctly and you ramp back up
at the right rate, it has a lot less chance of being a lingering issue. This isn’t what I would call a significant injury that you are concerned about big picture.”
Stevens was also encouraged by the fact that Porzingis was focused on being in his best condition for the upcoming season in Boston as he manages the injury.
“Those guys that represent their countries, they really enjoy that opportunity,” Stevens said of playing in the World Cup. “He was heartbroken not to do it but he put the opportunity here and took away any chance of having lingering effects by addressing it now. It shouldn’t be a big deal.”
The Celtics open up training camp in Boston on October 3rd.
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