On the eve of tonight's pivotal Game 5 between the Celtics and Cavs, I feel compelled to share my Rajon Rondo story. Well, it's not actually my story, it was told to me about a month ago, but I'll share it now.
I'd made a weekend trip down to Illinois State University to visit my brother and buddy Chris. That night Chris and I hit up a few of the bars, planning to meet some of his roommates and friends from school. We were out on the back porch drinking the world's largest Long Island Ice Tea's. For prospective employers, this is the only drink I would have all night, because I'm a responsible individual.
A few of Chris's friends began to filter in and we were having typical bar conversation. What drink is this, which one is that, that chick is hot, what are you majoring in, that chick is also hot. Then out of nowhere, Chris's roommate, who I'm going to call Andrew, because I think that was his name. Again, for prospective employers, my inability to remember his name has to do with the fact that I'm bad with names, not that I had drank a lot that night.
Anyway, out of nowhere, Andrew asks the small pack of us if we knew who Rajon Rondo was. I immediatley yelled, "Yes!" like an excited preteen, wanting to engage in basketball conversation.
"Ok," he said. "Well check this out. I was in Milwaukee last night and I guess the Celtics were in town to play the Bucks. When I got back to the hotel last night, who do I see in the lobby but Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins.
I kind of just stood there and stared at them I didn't know what to do. Then Rondo sees me staring at him, walks up to me and asks 'Can I fucking help you?' I just stand there and shake my head I didn't know what to say but I still wasn't moving from where I was. Then he told me to "Get the hell out of here."
"What an ass hole," I said. "I knew he'd be that type of guy. Where's Kirk Hinrich when you need him."
Everybody who watched last year's playoffs laughed. I like to look at this situation and imagine that Rondo and Perkins were polar opposites. While Rondo stood there bashing the star-struck basketball fan, Kendrick Perkins was in the corner smiling, contemplating how unnecessary the conflict was.
I have to say, a Kendrick Perkins smile, if it ever happens would be the third greatest moment in sports history for me. Only the Cubs winning a World Series or Bears winning a Super Bowl in my lifetime would bring me more joy than to see Kendrick Perkins smile for a split second, and while I'm dreaming, maybe give a thumbs up to the camera. [Edit: Upon further review, I've come across two pictures where Kendrick Perkins does indeed appear to be smiling. One of them is posted above. However, I still wanted to see this live during a game, not in some snapshot.]
But back to Rondo, who I'll finally say, is the Celtics best player. People have been saying this for at least a year now, and I always refused to go along with that crowd. But I can only ignore the elephant in the room for so long. Let's just throw the regular season out the window because if you're even a casual fan of basketball you know that real basketball isn't played until the playoffs.
The measure of a player is how they can perform under the increased pressure and scrutiny that is the playoffs. In this Cleveland series Rondo has increased his PPG by 8, AST 3, and REB 3 from the regular season. He's nearly averaging a triple double this series 21-8-13. Not since Jason Kidd has the NBA seen a point guard that is a legitimate threat to put up a triple double every night.
Most impressive to me however, is that Rondo has been averaging 42 minutes a game in the 2010 playoffs. Compare that to Allen - 35 MPG, Pierce - 34 MPG, and KG - 29 MPG, and it is clear that this is Rondo's team. Remember only two years ago he was the question mark. The point guard who if he could just help from screwing up, the Celtics were a title lock. Those times have changed, and if Rondo can match the intensity in tonight's game that he showed towards my man Andrew, Boston will become one game closer towards a shocking upset.
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