Rajon Rondo is convinced he is the best point guard in the NBA. We’ve heard him say it before, laughed to ourselves (or rolled our eyes), patted him on the back and said, “sure you are, kid” then moved on.
But Rondo isn’t backing down.
And in the cover story of the current edition of Boston Common Magazine (which I was pointed to by WEEI and SLAM, because I let my subscription lapse) Rondo detailed why he is the man.“It’s always the whole package,” he says. “Some fans look at a point guard and say he had 26 points, seven assists, and eight rebounds, and they’ll say he had a great game. But there is a lot of talent in the NBA, and eventually that talent catches up with you. The mental game is where it’s at. I would say the game is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical, for me at least. What separates great players from good ones is performing consistently. I can dominate the game in any number of ways, not just with the numbers.”
“My definition of what a good point guard is might be different from what some others might think,” he says. “I’ll give you an example: If [head coach] Doc Rivers gets thrown out, I can run the team for the rest of the game. I know what plays to call, what sets to call, or when to call time outs. It’s more than keeping track of the score. There is so much more going on that you take for granted on any given night, and there are only so many guys who can run a team when you don’t have a coach. In that category I think I am the best at what I do.”
The problem with the “who is best” argument is you end up with an elite point guard like Rondo and you have to tear him down. And we shouldn’t, we should celebrate the fact that Rondo is very good at controlling the flow of the game, that he is a very good defender. Rondo is a great fit for the Celtics (and has looked like a confident leader through a couple preseason games).
But Chris Paul does all that and is a better shooter. He is actually as good or better at controlling the tempo of the game, of playing chess to everyone else’s checkers. And while Rondo can take over a game if Rivers gets tossed, CP3 has Vinny Del Negro on the sidelines every night.
But we are splitting hairs here. Paul, Rondo, Deron Williams are on their own level (Steve Nash is step back to me due to his defense and age). I’d put CP3 at the head of the pack, but it’s not a big step. And as we’ve said before, I wouldn’t want Rondo to think any other way than that he is the best.
Man, we really need some games to start breaking down.
