After essentially a year since my last post, welcome back to Brad's Fanboy, the go-to spot for the least-timely Celtics analysis on the internetz. It's also the place to find a blogger who is well-meaning, but whose productivity can generously be described as erratic. All that said, my New Year's resolution was to write more, both professionally and personally, and what better place to start than trying to sort through my many complicated feelings about the trade of Rondo.
Man, I'm going to miss watching Rondo play.
I suppose my real "analysis" should be a bit more in-depth than that, but in the end my feelings on the trade, or the general direction of the team get swallowed up by the pleasure that came from watching Rondo throw ridiculous passes at impossible angles to guys who never knew they were open.
I fancy myself an intelligent observer of sports, one who can put aside his feelings as a fan, and be realistic about the members of my favorite team. So yes, I recognize that having a point guard with an inconsistent jump shot and who at times played as though he was afraid to get fouled due to his poor free throw shooting is an issue. Or that at times he seemed disinterested and loafed on defense. Or even that he sometimes passed up scoring chances for the possibility of padding his assist totals. Are all those things true to some extent or another? Probably. Does all the incredible things he can do on the court outweigh those negatives and make him a player who can be the cornerstone of a franchise; or is he only great as a complimentary piece when he can set-up other stars? I honestly have no idea.
All I know for sure is that I am going to miss watching Rondo play.
With this player, that ability to be rational and make honest assessments about value and flaws goes out the window. He was unlike any player I've ever seen with the variety and oddities of his game. It was more than the absurd passes, though that was the trademark and the thing that brought the most joy. It was his remarkable rebounding ability for a guard, or the way he used angles and spin when tossing shots off the back board. Nothing was ever conventional. The West Wing taught me that something can't be "very unique," it is simply unique. That was Rondo.
Though my basketball teammates over the years might find this hard to believe (I'm looking at you, Hayden) as a basketball fan I love great passes maybe even more than great scoring, and I particularly prefer a point guard whose instincts are to create rather than score. Rondo isn't the only guard in the Association for whom that applies, but I don't think any does it with the flair and entertainment value Rondo provides. He's the only basketball player I can recall who consistently made me laugh out loud as he pulled off some ludicrous play. My wife would always know Rondo had done something outlandish when she would hear me giggling during a game. Not many professional athletes make me giggle.
I understand the reasons it was probably time to trade him away, and why the package in return seemed underwhelming. The non-emotional fan part reads all the smart writers who can offer more in-depth insight into trade offers and the like (this is the part where I would usually link to a Zach Lowe column, but I fear my love of Zach and his work might eventually lead to some type of restraining order, so I'm holding back). That rationale thinking and acceptance does not diminish the sadness at him no longer being on my team. Losing Ray and trading away The Captain and KG was hard too. The winning was obviously the greatest joy from that group, and each of those guys was also extremely fun to watch in their own way.
But Rondo was different. All the logical thoughts about why it was right to trade him and that ultimately it is good for the team isn't what it's about for me. This is about losing a chance to regularly watch a player who you never knew how he might entertain you. And damn, I was really, really entertained.
