Random Rondo Thoughts

Rajon Rondo has been in the news for various reasons lately.  First,  reports are that Rondo is ready to follow in teammate Paul Pierce's steps and wed his long time girlfriend.   Rondo and Ashley Bachelor have been together for five years now and have a 2 year old daughter, Ryelle.   I was thinking about Ray, Pierce, and now Rondo, who marry after being together for years and having children and it does make some sense.   With their fame and money, I imagine they aren't quite sure about whether their relationships are real or someone after their money.   It takes years of being together for them to be certain that their mate is really in love with them and not after their money.   Good for Rondo  to get to that place in their relationship and take the next step. 

Rondo also finally talked about his Team USA experience and what happened to make him leave the team.   According to his agent, Rondo was never really sold on joining team USA and wasn't physically or emotionally ready for the challenge and he joined the team at his agent's urging.  With other things weighing heavily on him, it was his decision to leave the team and come back home.  Ric Bucher has the story on ESPN:

In fact, if it had been up to Rondo, he never would have tried out for the USA squad that ended a 16-year drought by defeating Turkey for the 2010 FIBA World Championship title. Rondo said several factors contributed to his subpar performance with the squad -- being worn out from the Celtics' narrow Finals loss to the Lakers, his mind on making up for it this season; missing his two-year old daughter; mourning the death of an uncle; and being disenchanted with European cuisine -- ultimately leading him to withdraw from the team.

 Rondo had the Celtics on his mind as he was practicing for the world championships and his heart just wasn't in it.  He had just finished a grueling 7 game series and was already thinking about the next season and trying to avenge that loss and win banner 18.    The addition of Shaquille O'Neal to the team caught his attention and he was already thinking about playing with 4 sure Hall of Famers in the lineup.

"It was great to practice every day against the best young talent in the league, a veteran like Chauncey Billups and play for a Hall of Fame coach [Mike Krzyzewski]," Rondo said. "But some of these guys hadn't played since April. Lamar [Odom] and I had just got out of Game 7. And next season is right around the corner. I feel like I had to take advantage of the opportunity I have right now to win another championship. It's not often you get to play with four Hall of Famers. Another couple of years and I won't have that."

I guess we know where Rondo's head is at and I am glad that he went with his heart and wanted to put the Celtics before gaining personal glory as a member of the USA World Championship team.    Also on his mind was his Red Bull King of the Rock tournament, a 64-man one on one competition.   It is a first on the famous former island prison of Alcatraz.   Red Bull spent more than 6 years in securing permission for the event.  Rondo is hoping that the success of the event will warrant more King of the Rock tournaments in the future. 

Now, with his Red Bull sponsored event behind him, Rondo can head East again to prepare for the title run that has surely been on his mind since that Finals loss back in June.  I have a feeling that Celtics fans are going to see a motivated and focused Rajon Rondo this season and that can only be a good thing!