Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the NBA
If the headline doesn’t lay it out clearly enough, here’s the deal:
Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo is the best PG in the league.
Better than Chris Paul, Derrick Rose, Russell Westbrook, Deron Williams and Steve Nash.
It’s pretty easy to figure that out when you watch Rondo play with the Celtics, and then watch every other point guard in the league play with their team.
Without Rondo, the Celtics are not a playoff team. Even in the Eastern Conference.
Without Rondo the Big Three wouldn’t be able to will, gut, or illegally screen their way to a win against any of the top 16 teams in the league.
He’s a triple-double machine. Especially in the playoffs.
He can’t shoot, but he drains big shots in big moments.
He can get to the rim, make any pass, and grab any rebound against anyone.
Paul has Blake Griffin and Deondre Jordan and Caron Butler and Kenyon Martin. The Clippers would be a borderline playoff team without him.
Nash is one of the best point guards ever. He almost made the playoffs with a group of misfit toys for teammates. He’s also atrocious defensively. He’s probably still top five, but not better than Rondo.
Deron Williams is in a pretty sad situation with the Nets. But great point guards make their teams play at their level (see Steve Nash). Williams put up big numbers and had some huge games in 2012, but none of that mattered in the end.
You can’t be the best if you’re in street clothes almost as much as you’re in a jersey. Sorry D-Rose. The Bulls still grabbed the number one seed in the east, even though Rose missed a serious amount of game time due to injury.
Russell Westbrook plays with two future Hall-of-Famers (yes I am saying that James Harden will be in the Hall of Fame one day) and a very solid front court (not to mention one of the best coaches in the league). He’s better than a lot of people give him credit for, but he’s not the best point guard in the NBA.
Rondo is the only Celtic to EVER score 40 points and dish out 10 assists in a playoff game.
Think about that for a minute.
Then think about this:
He averaged more rebounds and more assists than any point guard in the league this season.
Now seriously think about this:
He was the only point guard out of the ones mentioned in this article with an offensive rating (points produced per 100 possessions) higher than 100 and a defensive rating (points produced allowed per 100 possessions) lower than 100.
The only flaw on his resume is the 11 points per game he scored in 2012.
And before you color me a homer, just know that I’m a die-hard Knicks fan who has a very special place deep in his soul reserved just for hating the Celtics.
But even a true blue and orange man like me can look at the tape and the stats and see, Rajon Rondo is the best point guard in the NBA.