LeBron James praised Rajon Rondo on the ‘Mind the Game’ podcast with JJ Redick, saying that Rondo should be a head coach at ‘a high level,’ but that the former NBA point guard doesn’t want it.
“Rajon Rondo. He could do things on the go. It’s very weird to me that he’s not coaching at a high level – I think it’s because he doesn’t want to do it. Who wants to deal with these rich entitled guys all the time?”
Rondo took to Instagram to respond. Dallas Mavericks assistant and former teammate Jared Dudley shared LeBron’s quote on his Instagram, prompting Rondo to share it and ask his fans what level of basketball should he begin as a coach in.
“Should I start in college or at the pro level?”
Rajon Rondo has been out of the NBA since last playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2022. While Rondo never officially announced his retirement, the chances of him returning to the NBA look slim at this point. Rondo could easily enter the NBA as a coach at this point, widely regarded as one of the smartest players of his generation.
Rondo averaged 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 7.9 assists as a player, being heralded as one of the best passers of his generation. Rondo’s IQ has always been highlighted by former teammates, with what James said not being surprising to anyone who’s followed Rondo’s career. Point guards make good coaches and Rondo could be the next player to prove that trend as true.
Where Should Rajon Rondo Start His Coaching Career?
Rondo could have success at the NCAA level, but it’s an entirely different brand of coaching compared to the NBA. Outside of Brad Stevens, we don’t have many elite NCAA head coaches to make the jump to the NBA. If Rondo wants to excel at the NCAA level, he can go there, but we want to look at the NBA as his primary destination.
Rondo could have his pick of which team to join if he wants to leap to the NBA, but there are a few obvious destinations to explore. No team will trust him to be a rookie head coach after the Steve Nash experiment in Brooklyn failed, so where could he start his assistant coaching career?
The first is the Los Angeles Lakers, a team he played for and won a title with in 2020. Even though Rondo would leave after the 2019-20 season and get a payday in Atlanta, the Lakers would bring him back in 2021-22 before trading him mid-season. The Lakers organization respects Rondo and if LeBron is still playing, joining either Darvin Ham or a new coach’s staff would be an ideal way to get into coaching.
Another option is the Boston Celtics. Though most of the people that ran the organization when was on the franchise have left, there is respect for Rondo in Boston. The Celtics have a developing head coach in Joe Mazzulla already, but adding Rondo to the staff could help Mazzulla manage in-game situations better given the Celtics’ propensity to blow big leads.
One final destination, which likely would never happen, is the Dallas Mavericks. There’s a lot of hate for Rondo from the Dallas fanbase because of his doomed time with the franchise under Rick Carlisle. But Carlisle is in Indiana and the Mavericks are coached by Jason Kidd, a legendary point guard who has also coached Rondo on the Lakers. Jared Dudley is on the assistant staff, so this destination has previous links for Rondo.
Unless Mark Cuban steps in to remind Kidd how disliked Rondo is in Dallas, this could be a potential coaching debut spot for the two-time champion.
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