Louisville, Kentucky

Nationality:AmericanHeight:6 ft 1Weight:171 lbsCollege:KentuckyDraft:21st overall in 2006
by the Phoenix SunsPro Career:2006-presentAwards:1-time NBA Champion (2008)
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2007)
McDonald's All-American (2004)Profile:Info Page Rajon Rondo is a professional basketball player at Point Guard for the Boston Celtics of the NBA. He played for two years at the University of Kentucky before declaring for the 2006 NBA Draft. He was selected with the 21st overall pick by the Phoenix Suns, then traded to Boston, where he made his NBA debut. Currently, Rondo is starting at point guard for the Celtics, alongside All-Stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce.

High schoolEdit

Rondo attended Louisville's Eastern High School for three years where he played basketball under head coach Doug Bibby. There, as a junior he averaged 27.9 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 7.5 apg. He also earned All-State honors and was named the 7th Region Player of the Year. He transferred to Virginia's Oak Hill Academy for his senior year where he averaged 21.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 12.0 apg. Rondo was named to the McDonald's All-American Team in 2004 and scored a total of 14 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the all-star game. He also participated in the 2004 Jordan Capital Classic game, logging 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. In his senior year, Rondo dished out 31 assists in a single game, merely four away from the all-time national record.

Rondo committed to Kentucky after originally intending to attend Louisville, UK's in-state rival. Sebastian Telfair, who eventually skipped college and went straight to the NBA, was Louisville's primary recruiting target at the time and when Kentucky offered Rondo a scholarship, he accepted.^[1] Rondo, along with All-Americans Joe Crawford and Randolph Morris, rounded out Rivals.com's top-rated recruiting class for 2004.^[2]

CollegeEdit

Rondo led Kentucky to several wins including clutch-shot victories against the University of Louisville, South Carolina and Central Florida, but Kentucky failed to advance to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament in either Rondo's freshman or sophomore seasons. He was named to the SEC All-Freshmen Team. He set the UK single-season record for steals (totaling 87) his freshman year and made at least one steal in every game. In his sophomore year he had a career high 12 assists against Ole Miss (despite playing just 23 minutes) and 25 points against Louisville. Rondo also set a UK record for most rebounds in a game by a guard, grabbing 19 rebounds in an early season loss to Iowa. He averaged 11.2 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.9 assists, and 2.1 steals a game.^[3] He is not known as a shooter, however, going 18-66 from three with a 57.1% FT average.

Rondo was also named to the 2005 USA Men's Under-21 World Championship Team, which traveled to Argentina for the FIBA World Championships. He averaged 11.0 ppg and 4.5 apg in the eight-game tournament, garnering much attention from NBA scouts. The USA U-21 team won a gold medal at the Global Games held in Texas in late July.

NBA careerEdit

Following the 2005-06 NCAA season, Rondo announced he would forgo his final two seasons at Kentucky, hire an agent, and enter the NBA draft.^[4]

Rondo was drafted 21st overall by the Phoenix Suns in the 2006 NBA Draft. Phoenix then traded him to the Boston Celtics along with Brian Grant for the Cleveland Cavaliers' first-round draft pick in the 2007 NBA Draft and cash considerations.^[5] In another draft-day deal, the Celtics acquired Sebastian Telfair from the Portland Trail Blazers, finally uniting the backcourt Pitino had envisioned at Louisville.^[6] He was signed by the Boston Celtics on July 4, 2006.

Rookie SeasonEdit

Rondo averaged 6.4 points per game, 3.8 assists per game, 1.6 steals per game, and 3.7 rebounds per game in 78 games during his rookie year. Rondo started 25 games over his rookie year.

2007-08 NBA seasonEdit

On April 20, 2008 Rondo made his playoff debut finishing with 15 points, nine assists and two steals, helping the Celtics to a convincing 104-81 victory over the Atlanta Hawks. Rondo had 16 assists in a victory against the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals. In game 6 of the 2008 NBA Finals on June 17, 2008, Rondo had 6 steals, 8 assists, 7 rebounds and 21 points against the Los Angeles Lakers leading them to a victory that day.

2008-2009 NBA SeasonEdit

In his third season, the Celtics started strong achieving the best starting record in NBA History and set a franchise record with a 19-game Winning streak. He recorded his first triple-double with 16 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists. He recorded his second career triple double with 19 points, 15 rebounds and 14 assists. He recorded a career high 32 points against the Phoenix Suns during his 23rd Birthday.

2012-2013 NBA SeasonEdit

Rondo started the season with 24 consecutive 10+ assists. He continued the streak, and recorded his 37th game with 10+ assists matching John Stockton's longest streak. Only Majic Johnson had a longer streak with 46 consecutive 10+ assists games. The streak ended when Rondo was ejected for fighting Brooklyn Net's Kris Humphries. 

He became a all-star starter for the first time of his career and his 4th overall. 

Rondo managed to get a back-to-back triple double from Jan 24 - Jan 25, 2013.

Career transactionsEdit

• June 28, 2006: Drafted 21st overall by Phoenix Suns in 2006 NBA Draft.
• June 28, 2006: Traded by Phoenix with Brian Grant to the Boston Celtics for a future first-round draft pick.^[7]

GalleryEdit

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ReferencesEdit

1. ↑ Sun, Victoria (2004-12-17). "Rondo plays it low-key". The Cincinnati Post (E. W. Scripps Company). Archived from the original on 2005-04-04. http://web.archive.org/web/20050404041710/http://www.cincypost.com/2004/12/17/ukhoop12-17-2004.html. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
2. ↑ "Rivals.com Top 25 for 2004". Rivals.com. http://rivalshoops.rivals.com/content.asp?SID=910&CID=297763. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
3. ↑ College sophomore year stats.
4. ↑ "Kentucky G Rondo to hire agent, test draft prospects". ESPN.com. 2006-04-04. http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/draft2006/news/story?id=2396657. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
5. ↑ "Celtics Acquire Draft Rights to Rajon Rondo and Brian Grant". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/draft-central/press062806-draft-rondo.html. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
6. ↑ Stringer, Peter F. (2006-07-03). "Trade Gives Telfair Fresh Start". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/celtics/news/notes070306-telfair-press.html. Retrieved 2007-03-12. 
7. ↑ Celtics Acquire Draft Rights to Rajon Rondo and Brian Grant