Rajon Rondo gets ready for emotional return at Boston
On Friday night, the Mavericks are set to take on the Celtics at Boston, and Rajon Rondo believes that he could feel emotional in a game against his former team. Live betting services can fully understand why he would feel this way, considering all of the years that he played there
The player, who was traded to Dallas two weeks ago, said that that in Boston they have “one of if not the best fans in sports, period.” Many fans that follow the Celtics cannot agree more, and will always remember his career with the team, which spanned over eight seasons.
“Hopefully I won’t be too emotional, try not to cry a little bit, but I’m very excited to go back,” said Rondo “Those fans are amazing there. If I do [tear up], hopefully the camera isn’t on me too much. I’m going to try to blink a lot.”
In his time with the Celtics, the player experienced a rollercoaster ride, as he had very high and low moments. The point guard who was an All-Star on four occasions started his career in the NBA as a rookie at the age of 20, playing with a team that once ended up losing 18 games in a row. The following season he was the starting point guard playing for an NBA championship team, after Boston acquired the services of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, and with Paul Pierce they made a “Big Three”.
The team’s title season kicked off a five-year span of in which Boston were true candidates. Live betting services remember that the team’s run finished when the player suffered a tear of his right knee’s ACL in January of 2013. After their exit from the playoffs in the first round, Boston started to restructure themselves that summer when coach Doc Rivers, Pierce, and Garnett left the team, and Rondo was the last piece of the team that clinched the 2008 title before being traded to the Mavericks.
“That’s where I started. That’s where I got molded,” said Rondo. “That’s where everything happened for me. The best years are still ahead of me, but I was an All-Star four times, won a championship in Boston. I can’t thank the fans enough.
“Even when we were losing 18 in a row the first year, the fans still showed a lot of support. They came to every game. When I was out on the streets, they didn’t kill me or heckle me. It was always supportive. They’re true fans. They’re not fair-weather fans, when you’re losing, they’re gone. They ride it out and be a Celtic for life.”
Rick Carlisle, Dallas coach who on 1986 played as a reserve in a reserve on Boston’s championship squad that year, said that fans of the Celtics love Rondo due to the competitive nature that he has.
“Boston is one of the great sports cities in the world, and the reason people in Boston identify with him is because of his uncompromising competitiveness and the fact that he’s an absolute original,” said Carlisle. “He’s just a one-of-a-kind player.”
