Rajon Rondo’s rings aren’t like most others.
The once shifty point guard holds the distinction of being one of only two players in NBA history to win championships with the Celtics and Lakers – the two most storied franchises in all of basketball.
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The Celtics-Lakers rivalry is the stuff of legend.
The esteemed organizations have more titles than any other teams in The Association — although the Celtics moved one clear of the Lakers on 18 world championships after beating the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 NBA Finals — and have birthed some of the greatest players to ever touch a basketball.
Rondo is a champion in both purple and gold and green and white, having hoisted the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in 2008 with the Celtics and in 2020 with LeBron James’ Lakers.
With his second championship ring, Rondo joined Clyde Lovellette as the only players in NBA history to win titles with both the Lakers and Celtics.
Four-time All-Star Lovellette won his first championship with George Mikan and the Minneapolis Lakers in 1954, and then won two more alongside Bill Russell on the Celtics in 1963 and 1964.
However, Rondo can lay claim to the fact he is the only person to win rings with both Boston and the Los Angeles Lakers – Lovellette having won his title when the Lakers were based in Minneapolis (they relocated to La-La Land before the 1960-61 season).
“It’s been a long time for me,” Rondo told reporters after winning his second title, four years ago.
“To be able to come back and redeem myself and play a big part in this championship is definitely a hell of a feeling, and something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”
Last April, at the age of 38, the veteran point guard confirmed his retirement from the sport.
Rondo’s legacy in Boston and Los Angeles is set in stone but his pivotal role in the C’s ’08 championship is what solidified him as a modern day great.
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The versatile facilitator was the fourth cog in a Boston ‘Big Four’ made up of even bigger personalities in Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen.
After beating Kobe’s Lakers in 2008, with Garnett declaring ‘anything was possible’, Boston’s star-studded team internally combusted as friendships fell apart.
Much of the bitterness centered around Allen, who fell out with Garnett and Rondo.
The sharpshooter later committed the ultimate act of betrayal by joining LeBron’s ‘Heatles’ — Boston’s bitter rival at the time — and hit the biggest shot in Finals history to help secure Miami a championship.
Rajon and Ray spent five years together with the Celtics but never got along.
Things even got physical when they put on boxing gloves and fought in the weight room to settle their differences.
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“It wasn’t a settle feud, but we damn sure put the gloves on. And like I said, we were competitive in every, every facet of life. We always competed,” Rondo told the Run It Back podcast.
“Me and Ray put the gloves on. It was all fun and games at the time. You know, like I said, we loved to compete. We was like, s***, f*** it, let’s get it on. You know what I mean?
“Because there was no point in talking about each other behind each other’s back. Just fight as men. But it got broken up pretty quickly.”
Rondo and Allen’s relationship reached boiling point when former Boston enforcer-turned-ESPN-analyst Kendrick Perkins revealed Allen allegedly pushed for Rondo to be traded for Chris Paul.
The trade never materialised but the increasingly fractured Celtics were never the same.
KG and Pierce — who recently revelled in the Lakers’ misery — left for the bright lights of New York City and the eternally doomed Brooklyn Nets, while Rondo was traded to the Mavericks before eventually winding up with the Lakers.
Rondo made history in Los Angeles but made a name for himself in Boston.
During his time there he led the league in assists three times and in steals once.
By the time his Celtics career came to an end he ranked fourth in franchise history in assists and third in steals.
As time has passed, the Celtics’ ‘Big Four’ has gradually mended their once broken relationships.
They were the last team to deliver Boston a title before 2024, when the current iteration of the iconic franchise secured glory once again.
Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and the decidedly deep Celtics beat Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2024 Final 4-1, delivering Boston’s first trophy in 16 years.
