Rajon Rondo

Infobox NBA Player


caption = Rondo in Game 4 of the 2008 NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks
name = Rajon Rondo
position = Point guard
nickname =
height_ft = 6
height_in = 1
weight_lb = 171
league = NBA
team = Boston Celtics
number = 9
nationality = USA
birth_date = birth date and age|1986|2|22
birth_place = Louisville, Kentucky
college = Kentucky
highschool = Eastern HS
(Middletown, Kentucky), Oak Hill Academy
(Mouth of Wilson, Virginia)
draft = 21st overall
draft_year = 2006
draft_team = Phoenix Suns
career_start = 2006
career_end =
former_teams =
awards = 1-time NBA Champion
(2008)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team
(2007)
McDonald's All-American
(2004)

Rajon Pierre Rondo (born February 22, 1986 in Louisville, Kentucky) is an American professional basketball player with the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association. He played for two years at the University of Kentucky before declaring for the 2006 NBA Draft. He was selected with the 21st overall pick by the Phoenix Suns, then traded to Boston, where he made his NBA debut. Currently, Rondo is starting at point guard for the Celtics, alongside All-Stars Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce.

High school

Rondo attended Louisville's Eastern High School for three years where he played basketball under head coach Doug Bibby. There, as a junior he averaged 27.9 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 7.5 apg. He also earned All-State honors and was named the 7th Region Player of the Year. He transferred to Virginia's Oak Hill Academy for his senior year where he averaged 21.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 12.0 apg. Rondo was named to the McDonald's All-American Team in 2004 and scored a total of 14 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the all-star game. He also participated in the 2004 Jordan Capital Classic game, logging 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. In his senior year, Rondo dished out 31 assists in a single game, merely four away from the all-time national record.

Rondo committed to Kentucky after originally intending to attend Louisville, UK's in-state rival. Sebastian Telfair, who eventually skipped college and went straight to the NBA, was Louisville's primary recruiting target, however, and when Tubby Smith offered Rondo a scholarship, he accepted. [cite news |url=http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/17/ukhoop12-17-2004.html |title=Rondo plays it low-key |last=Sun |first=Victoria |work=The Cincinnati Post |publisher=E. W. Scripps Company |date=2004-12-17 |accessdate = 2007-03-12 |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20050404041710/http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/17/ukhoop12-17-2004.html |archivedate=2005-04-04] Rondo, along with All-Americans Joe Crawford and Randolph Morris, rounded out Rivals.com's top-rated recruiting class for 2004. [cite web |url=http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=910&CID=297763 |title=Rivals.com Top 25 for 2004 |publisher=Rivals.com |accessdate = 2007-03-12]

College

Rondo led Kentucky to several wins including clutch-shot victories against the University of Louisville, South Carolina and Central Florida, but Kentucky failed to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in either Rondo's freshman or sophomore seasons. He was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Team. He set the UK single-season record for steals (totaling 87) his freshman year and made at least one steal in every game. In his sophomore year he had a career high 12 assists against Ole Miss (despite playing just 23 minutes) and 25 points against Louisville. Rondo also set a UK record for most rebounds in a game by a guard, grabbing 19 rebounds in an early season loss to Iowa. He averaged 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.1 steals a game. He is not known as a shooter, however, going 18-66 from three with a 57.1% FT average.

Rondo was also named to the 2005 USA Men's Under-21 World Championship Team, which traveled to Argentina for the FIBA World Championships. He averaged 11.0 ppg and 4.5 apg in the eight-game tournament, garnering much attention from NBA scouts. The USA U-21 team won a gold medal at the Global Games held in Texas in late July.

NBA Draft

Following the 2005-06 NCAA season, Rondo announced he would forgo his final two seasons at Kentucky, hire an agent, and enter the NBA draft. [cite web |url=http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/news/story?id=2396657 |title=Kentucky G Rondo to hire agent, test draft prospects |publisher=ESPN.com|date=2006-04-04 |accessdate = 2007-03-12]

Rondo was drafted 21st overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 NBA Draft. Phoenix then traded him to the Boston Celtics along with Brian Grant for the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and cash considerations. [cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/draft-central/press062806-draft-rondo.html |title=Celtics Acquire Draft Rights to Rajon Rondo and Brian Grant |publisher=NBA.com |accessdate = 2007-03-12] In another draft-day deal, the Celtics acquired Sebastian Telfair from the Portland Trail Blazers, finally uniting the backcourt Pitino had envisioned at Louisville. [cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/notes070306-telfair-press.html |title=Trade Gives Telfair Fresh Start |last=Stringer |first=Peter F. |publisher=NBA.com |date=2006-07-03 |accessdate = 2007-03-12] He was signed by the Boston Celtics on July 4, 2006.

Professional highlights

*On March 17, 2007, Rondo pulled down 14 rebounds in a victory against the San Antonio Spurs.
*Has had six 4-steal games.
*Ended his rookie campaign by being named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. [cite web |url=http://www.nba.com/news/allrookie_070508.html |title=Roy Headlines 2006-07 NBA T-Mobile All-Rookie Team |publisher=NBA.com |date=2007-05-08 |accessdate = 2007-05-08]
*Led the NBA in steals per 48 minutes with 3.36.
*Was 10th in the NBA with 128 steals in 06-07 despite playing just 23.5 minutes per game.
*Ranked 4th in the NBA in steals per turnover with 0.93
*Was selected to play in the "T-Mobile Rookie Challenge and Youth Jam" during 2008 NBA All-Star Weekend.
*On February 6, 2008, had a career-high 24 points in a victory against the Los Angeles Clippers.
*On February 29, 2008, he had a career-high 16 assists in a victory against the Charlotte Bobcats.
*On June 8, 2008, he tied his career-high of 16 assists in a victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
*On June 17, 2008, Rondo had 6 steals, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 21 points against the Los Angeles Lakers, leading to a 131–92 blowout victory in the Championship Game of the 2008 NBA Finals.

References

External links

*NBA-profile
*basketball-reference
* [http://www.rajonrondo9.com/ The Official Site of Rajon Rondo]
* [http://www.yardbarker.com/author/column/14282 YardBarker – Rajon Rondo's Blog]
* [http://www.nba.com/draft2006/profiles/RajonRondo.html NBA.com Draft Profile]
* [http://ukathletics.com/index.php?s=&change_well_id=2&url_article_id=13139 Profile at UKAthletics.com]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/profile?statsId=4149 ESPN.com Player Card]