“One of the best players I’ve ever played with. Obviously, his IQ was out of this word.”
Lebron James gave Rajon Rondo his flowers earlier this week after the 4x All-Star, 3x Assist Champ, 2x Champion, and 4x All-Defense Player, announced his retirement. The two teamed up during the 2021-2022 season in Los Angeles, and Rondo hadn’t played in the NBA since then.
On a recent episode of “All The Smoke,” a podcast hosted by Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Rondo made his retirement official. Later that evening, the Lakers defeated the Toronto Raptors and James shared some words about Rondo after being asked during the post-game press conference.
“One of the best players I ever played with. Obviously, his IQ was out of this world. I was very lucky to get to team up with him. Being in LA and him coming to the Lakers, I was ecstatic about that. I knew what we could accomplish together. Rondo always talked about if he ever teamed up with me, he knew we could win a championship. We did that.
Being a fierce competitor throughout my career when he was in Boston. Obviously, our battles that we had when I was in Cleveland then going to Miami. He got everything out of his career and more: two-time champion, multiple All-Stars, a couple of years, he led the league in assists or was up there. Just a spectacular player.”
In total, Rondo clocked in 16 seasons in the NBA, suiting up for the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Cavaliers, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Clippers, Los Angeles Clippers, New Orleans Pelicans and the Sacramento Kings.
