Rajon Rondo is now an NBA champion once again. He almost retired before he even got the chance, however.
This week on the “The Full 48” podcast, ESPN’s Rachel Nichols revealed Rondo nearly retired after his disastrous stint with the Dallas Mavericks. She said, per Silver Screen & Roll:
“He told me he almost retired a few years ago. Because when the catastrophe in Dallas happened between him and Rick Carlisle — and we can assign all kinds of blame for that — he said only two teams called him that offseason. He was sort of thinking, ‘Well maybe I just don’t want to do this anymore.’ He could have been out of basketball.”
Rondo was traded by the Boston Celtics to the Mavs in the 2014-15 season. It was a catastrophic tenure during which he openly clashed with head coach Carlisle, including disputes over petty issues. Rondo did not return to Dallas after the season and was even denied a playoff share.
The four-time All-Star ultimately did not retire. He slowly rebuilt his value over stints with Sacramento, Chicago, and New Orleans. Now Rondo has made it back to the top of the NBA mountain with the Los Angeles Lakers, and it is safe to say it was a long journey for him to get there.
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