When Danny Ainge hired Brad Stevens as the new head coach of the Boston Celtics, shockwaves were sent throughout basketball. No one could believe and some didn't want to believe it.
But once the shock started to subside, the biggest question was "How is Rajon Rondo going to like this?" Rajon, in my opinion the best point guard in the NBA, has been coached by a former NBA player and veteran personality in Doc Rivers and still got ruffled. How would he respond to being coached by a college coach three years younger than his mentor, Kevin Garnett?
They say only positive words were spoken about Rondo being "open" to Stevens' approach, and Stevens going out of his way to talk about Rondo and what he wants to bring to their relationship. However, the Boston Globe reports that this is still a major area of concern for the team. This, my friends, is not a good sign.
Rondo will play, once he's fully recovered from ACL surgery (and he was starting on-court activities in the playoffs so he should be good to go). And granted, he'll be good, but his back is against the wall in a lot of ways. He's got a new young coach on a team that's clearly rebuilding. He's been abandoned by Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. The two have provided him advice for going forward, but that's still a huge safety net he's now without. Whatever conflicts Rondo and Rivers may have had, there was always some kind of love there. Rivers is the only pro coach Rondo has ever really known.
And now he's starting all over with the likes of Kris Humphries, who may just be the fourth best player on the 2013 roster.
It's going to get worse before it gets better. Rondo needs things to go well with Stevens for him to not get saddled with further attitude issues - we all know how some people consider him a whiner. Those issues can complicate a career further on. We'll see what the beginning of this season brings. Do they bring in someone else, a negotiator if you will, or do they simply make a go of Rondo and Stevens, and hope for the best.
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