1. Experience and success in postseason
LeBron James had a pair of quotes during the NBA Finals where Rajon Rondo immediately comes to mind. First, was a directly citing Rondo’s name and his Boston Celtics teammates about “how their minds were in it” and that “Rondo was was calling out sets every time.”
LeBron, June 7: " When you looked at Rondo & KG & Paul & Ray, you knew they were great basketball players. But not only great basketball players, you could see their minds were in it...Rondo was calling out sets every time. It was like, OK, this is bigger than basketball"
— Brian Windhorst (@WindhorstESPN) July 2, 2018
The next was the key to beating the Golden State Warriors was assembling “a group of minds” that have “to be very cerebral.”
This is exactly what Rajon Rondo represents: a player that has been through postseason battles, understands the mental work that has to be accompanied by the talent, and uses every advantage he can find through that studying to achieve success. You give Rondo days to lock in on one opponent, and there’s a strong chance he will find every weakness that team has.
Rondo is coming off a postseason where he averaged 10.3 points, a playoff career-high 12.2 assists, 7.6 rebounds and 1.4 steals per game. His production level picks up in the playoffs and his toughness is on full display, something we saw in the Pelicans’ sweep of the Blazers in the first round. He’s one of my favorite players over the past decade in this regard, always upping his play in the postseason.
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Let’ not forget that before he got injured in the 2017 postseason, his eighth-seeded Bulls had a 2-0 lead over the top-seeded Celtics in overwhelming results. A hand injury cost him the postseason and the Bulls lost the next four games. The Lakers don’t expect to make a deep postseason run this year, but having a proven performer like Rondo to accompany LeBron and the youngsters is a way to maximize the team’s potential should they make the playoffs.