Rajon Rondo has found a permanent home in Los Angeles. As a 4x All-Star and 2x Champion, it’s no surprise that he continues to be an effective and valuable player at 35-years-old.
But it wasn’t all that long ago when Rondo played on the other side of the country, as a member of the Boston Celtics.
Serving as their point guard for 9 years, Rondo was key to their Championship run in 2008, and for many more seasons following.
Recently, the star point guard looked back on his tenure with the Celtics, commenting on the fact that he’s the only active player from that Championship team.
(via The Orange County Register)
“It’s life. I’m on my last leg here in the league. I think I got another six years, but other than that.”
“It’s been an amazing journey in my career,” he said. “To start in Boston, nine years, this is kind of place that raised me and possibly ending my career with the rival, but for me, like there’s been a great journey, a great story and fans have been amazing in both places.”
2008 is the last time the boys in green won a title, so it’s rather interesting to think that the last active member of that squad is playing for the very team they went up against that year.
And while the rivalry isn’t nearly what it used to be, there’s still something there between the two teams.
“I understood the magnitude of it once I got to the Finals,” Rondo said. “But before then, in my first year, I didn’t understand it. Once we got to the Finals, you understood the hate, the history. My family experienced it the most, going to L.A. in my first couple of years.”
Nobody knows what comes next for Rondo at this stage of his career. So long as he continues to stay at the top of his game, he’ll have a place in the league.
But whether or not he’ll ever return to Boston remains a major question mark. Perhaps one day, before his career is completely in the books, he’ll give it one last run for old time’s sake.
