Rajon Rondo: "If I haven’t played for you, or you don’t know me as a teammate, then you really don’t know me at all"

Rajon Rondo has been a Celtic his entire career. For the majority of it, in addition to people remarking at his talent, they've remarked in the same breath at his talent, his contract, and if he's more valuable to Boston as a player or as a trade chip. I guess that should be the case with a guy like Rondo, seeing the majority of the people he knows consider extremely challenging to be around and extremely rewarding to play with.

In a detailed profile written by Baxter Holmes of The Boston Globe, all of the Rondoisms and Rondo story lines that have compiled over this season make much more sense. There is no difference in the Rondo we're getting now versus the Rondo we had during the championship run. The only difference is that Rondo is now the biggest name on the floor for the Celtics- and with that comes criticism, rumors, and a constant microscoping of everything he does.

While the entire piece is worth the read, here are a few highlighted quotes about the current Captain of the Boston Celtics:

DOC RIVERS

"I think he knows what a pro should be. He knows what a pro looks like and he knows how a leader acts. He has had probably the best examples that a young player could possibly have, and now he has to do it.”

DANNY AINGE

“How easy would it have been for Rajon to just say, ‘Yeah, I should’ve been in Sacramento with the team, that was a bad move by me,’ ” Ainge said. “How easy would that have been for him, and then it’s over with.

“But that’s just not who he is. He won’t say it if he doesn’t believe it. He also won’t say it if he’s just trying to appease the people asking him the question.”

JARED SULLINGER on Rondo yelling at a team member for shaking hands with a member of the Rockets at halftime of a game in which the Rockets were crushing the Celtics:

“When we got in the locker room,” Sullinger said, “[Rondo] pretty much cussed us out, saying, ‘What are you doing? Why are we shaking hands with people that are beating the life out of us?'

“You can tell, he’s an old-school basketball player. It’s no friends for him. It’s all business.”

Rondo's best friend, JOSH SMITH

“When the ball is [thrown] in the air, we’re not friends for those 48 minutes that we’re playing against each other. He does have that type of mentality.”

RAJON RONDO

“Yeah, I think that’s pretty accurate,” Rondo said.

Source: Baxter Holmes; Boston Globe