I met up with Rondo in the lobby of the Four Seasons, where he was crashing for the day, and where he was hanging out post-lunch, rocking a white t-shirt, jeans and pair of red Vans. He also had on a pair of customized Celtics headphones with the word “UBUNTU” printed on the side. We went up to his suite and, with TV One playing the background, we talked for a while, about basketball, about life, about how he got to where he is today, about playing with the Big Three, and a lot about fame and how he’s been received and perceived.
The great irony, of course, is that in between me interviewing him and this story dropping in tiếp theo issue of SLAM (it hits the streets tiếp theo week, and Ben will do a post on the site when it drops), Rondo has gone from being seen as a key supporting player for Boston to perhaps their most important, from unknown to casual những người hâm mộ to being on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
My full interview with Rondo will be in SLAM 140.
For now, here are some bits and pieces…
LW: Last night on TNT, at halftime of the game where bạn finished with 19 assists, Charles Barkley gave his hàng đầu, đầu trang three point guards.
RR: I heard, I didn’t see it.
Charles đã đưa ý kiến his hàng đầu, đầu trang three point guards were number one, Deron Williams, number two was Chris Paul, number three was Derrick Rose. Chris Paul was on the set and he didn’t seem too happy about it.
I heard about that. But Charles, he’s gonna speak his mind.
So my câu hỏi to bạn is, where do bạn think bạn rank?
Me? I think I’m one. I feel like I’m the best at what I do. That’s just how I put it. That’s how I play. I tình yêu my match-ups against those three guys, every time I play against them. I’m biased, but I feel like I’m the best.
Do bạn play better when bạn think that way?
I play better, I think, when there’s thêm pressure on. But I’m still a pass-first point guard. All three of those point guards have different roles, those three guys bạn named. They have to initiate offense. Speaking of Chris and Deron, every time down they pretty much have to create everything for their teams. Same with Derrick now. Me, the reason I’m probably not considered hàng đầu, đầu trang three with them is because I’m playing with the Big Three. But that’s people’s opinion. I’ll continue to get better, as I’m sure those guys will. But that’s just people’s opinions. I feel like I’m the best.
But bạn made the All-Star team this year.
Yeah, but people probably don’t even know I made the All-Star team. Some don’t, some do.
But bạn played down the stretch when it mattered…
Yeah, but Bron was running the point. I was just out there (laughs).
* * *
LW: bạn played all kinds of sports growing up, right?
RR: I played, baseball, football, basketball.
What did bạn play in baseball?
Pitcher and shortstop, some centerfield.
Could bạn hit?
I could hit a little bit. I played baseball at Oak đồi núi, hill when I was in high school, actually. I stopped hitting the ball when they started throwing curveballs to me; I couldn’t hit those for nothing. Then I got hit with a ball, and after that it was like, I don’t want to bat any more. Somebody pinch hit for me. I got hit in the leg with a 90 mile an giờ fastball. I was like, that’s enough. I’ll stick to basketball.
At some point bạn must have realized that bạn had a future in basketball, right?
When I went to Oak Hill. I went to Oak Hill, and I knew Josh Smith was going to the League. I thought, OK, if he’s going to the League out of high school, and I’m just as good as him and put up the same numbers, even though we’re different positions, I was confident. I knew I could play, because we’d traveled across the country playing against the best high school players, going to ABCD camps, playing against guys who were considered pro material like Sebastian Telfair and Shaun Livingston. I was like, I can do this for real. So I got serious and started working at it. That was before my senior year.
When bạn decide to go to Oak Hill, that’s like going off to college.
bạn know, I went and didn’t even take a visit. It was crazy. The first two months were the hardest months ever. Because bạn don’t really know anybody, there’s no cell phone signal, reception.
And it’s in the middle of nowhere.
Middle of nowhere, no money, just stuck on campus, living in a room with a guy bạn just met. My first roommate was a guy named Marcus Nicks, another point guard. We got along but we were battling for the position. Then me and Josh became roommates and we were tight ever since.
* * *
LW: bạn got drafted bởi Phoenix and traded to Boston. Do bạn ever think about what would’ve happened if bạn ended up with Phoenix?
RR: I wouldn’t have a ring. I wouldn’t be playing (laughs). I mean, I would be learning the game, but I think the best way to learn the game and get experience is bởi playing. Playing behind Nash would be a good thing, but I’m probably learning thêm having the ball in my hands and playing for Coach Rivers, who was a point guard in the League for so long.
Has playing in the NBA been what bạn thought it would be like?
I didn’t know what to expect, really. I wasn’t a big NBA người hâm mộ growing up. I didn’t watch it. I just knew it was the highest level of bóng rổ bạn could be at, and I just wanted to be there.
What was the closest NBA team to Louisville?
Pacers. It’s an hour-and-half drive. I never went to a game.
Had bạn ever been to an NBA game as a người hâm mộ before bạn actually played in a game?
My first NBA game as a người hâm mộ was a Miami Heat game in the Playoffs in 2006, right before I came to the League. Derek Anderson invited me to a game. It wasn’t the Finals — they did win it that năm — but it was the Playoffs. I didn’t watch the NBA until maybe my freshman năm of college, because I was trying to get there. It just wasn’t interesting to me.
It’s always funny to hear guys who grew up watching it. Guys your age, their yêu thích player of all time will be someone who played in the early ‘90s.
Yeah, I don’t know any of those guys. KG always gets on me about that, and the older guys on my team. I mean, I’ve never even seen Jordan play, really. I just didn’t watch it.
So you’d never really seen Kevin play.
Never seen Kevin play.
Do bạn feel like that puts bạn at a disadvantage at all?
Nah, not really. Some people try to mimic their games after certain players, but I never really did…
It’s probably a good thing, because bạn don’t learn any bad habits trying to copy other dudes.
Maybe it’s a good thing, maybe it’s a bad thing. I don’t think it’s hurt me. I’ve become a student of the game, so I try to get better and watch other point guards, try some of their moves if I like them.
bạn put Hakeem’s Dream Shake on the Cavs the other night.
I’ve never seen him play, though. I’ve never seen Hakeem play, never seen that move. I always do that move, and Kevin always tells me it’s the Dream Shake. To me, it’s the Rondo Shake.
* * *
LW: Was it hard fitting with Kevin, Paul, cá đuối, ray and those guys?
RR: No, not really. I’m a little different. I’m never really in awe of people. I don’t get caught up in the moment when I’m playing with people. And if they didn’t want me there I’m sure I’d have been gone. They traded 7 players the năm before, so I was there for a reason. And if I didn’t get the job done, I’d have been out of there. It’s a business, and I’m confident in what I do. They respect me, I respect them.
Did bạn look at it as a business last summer when Danny Ainge was critical about bạn to the media?
Yeah. Had to. I mean, it was frustrating, of course, hearing stuff like that. Especially after the season we had — I though we had a pretty good Playoffs last year. I thought things were going good, but it seemed like the complete opposite. And I started hearing stuff I hadn’t heard all season, coming out of nowhere. That’s when I learned that business is a part of it, but at the end of the ngày we got a deal done.
Was that the first time bạn had to deal with that, the politics? hoặc the “politricks,” as Rasheed would call it?
Yeah, I would say so. Especially at that level. And the media’s big in Boston. So I was doing an interview for Dunkin’ Donuts, and all the media is doing is asking me about the trade rumors and all this stuff. They just went straight to all that stuff.
They ask like one câu hỏi about bánh doughnut and then ask about Danny Ainge?
Yeah, right, get right to the point. (Anchorman voice) “Well what we really want to ask you…”
Hey, I’ve done it too.
* * *
LW: Do bạn feel like you’re a role player?
RR: I’m a role player. What did Shaq say? I’m a high-level role player.
Eventually bạn have to become one of the superstars, right?
Eventually, but they can have it for now. It doesn’t bother me if I’m considered a superstar, as long as I continue to improve on the court and produce.
I don’t believe bạn that it doesn’t bother you.
It don’t. I feel like I’m the man, that’s how I put it. But if people don’t consider me that, I’m not bothered if bạn say I’m not a hàng đầu, đầu trang five point guard. Every night I prove it, but that’s just how it is.
What about wanting to be seen as a superstar not just in the bóng rổ sense, but as a personality, in Boston and around the world?
I don’t like that stuff. I’m fine with not doing that. I’m cool. I don’t have to be the man. I don’t have to be on every billboard in Boston, be the face of the Boston Celtics. If that’s not me, that’s not me. I’m fine. I’m low-key. I don’t really like having the spotlight on me, really. There’s people who want it. And then there’s people who do deserve it, but could care less. Me? I’m cool.
