Rondo has seen Lakers-Celtics storied rivalry from both sides
Rajon Rondo’s best memory in TD Garden is June 17, 2008. Kevin Garnett screamed how anything was possible, and green-andwhite confetti sprayed from the ceiling as the Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA championship. But as Trevor Ariza and the Lakers left, already shattered to have lost the Finals, they faced a very different reception: a rowdy crowd of Celtics fans literally beating on them, then rocking their bus back and forth as they left the arena.
“Yeah, that was a good ol’ Bostonian ass-whooping,” Rondo said on Friday morning, wearing the Lakers logo across his chest while thinking back on his nine seasons as a Celtic.
These are, by comparison, fallow years for the cross-coastal rivalry which has defined so much of NBA history and is often rough around the fringe. Lakers-Celtics always does have an extra edge to it, but it’s not quite the feeling of when both teams are unquestioned leaders in their respective conferences. In fact, this latest installment finds both the Lakers (8-8) and Celtics (7-8) in need of some wins to get back on track.
Rondo said the most intense part of the rivalry has been “buried” because the two franchises haven’t met in the playoffs since 2010. Growing up in Louisville, Kentucky, he said he didn’t understand how much power the rivalry held until he was in the thick of it.
“I understood the magnitude of it once I got to the Finals,” he said. “But before then, in my first year, I didn’t understand it. Once we got to the Finals, you understood the hate, the history. My family experienced it the most, going to L.A. in my first couple of years.”
Boston is likely the market that will forever be associated with
The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant (24) and the Celtics’ Rajon Rondo battle for a rebound in Game 2 of the 2010 NBA Finals at Staples Center. The Celtics beat the Lakers 104-93, but L.A. won the series in six games.
Rondo, even though he’s won titles in both cities. But Rondo acknowledged one of his top five memories in the Garden is as a Laker: In 2019, he hit a game-winning shot against the Celtics, and none other than Garnett stormed the court to embrace him.
What made that moment special was his then-7-year-old son Pierre sitting in the crowd.
“I can’t put it too high, you know, but it’s up there,” he said. “Especially the memories of my son. He was actually here on the court with me when I hit it so it’s a pretty big one.”
Rondo is the last player standing from that 2008 title team. Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are already in the Hall of Fame. Kendrick Perkins has made a bigger name for himself as an analyst. Sam Cassell has been an
assistant coach for years.
Joked Rondo: “It’s life. I’m on my last leg here in the league. I think I got another six years, but other than that ...”
Still, it sounded like the 35-year-old hopes to see that rivalry spark again. This early in the season, the forecast is still difficult to predict with both teams off to less-than-ideal starts. But Rondo said he has felt fortunate to have experienced so much already from both sides of the divide.
“It’s been an amazing journey in my career,” he said. “To start in Boston, nine years, this is kind of place that raised me and possibly ending my career with the rival, but for me, like there’s been a great journey, a great story and fans have been amazing in both places.”