Whether you like the Boston Celtics or not, and regardless of whether you think Rajon Rondo is a quality basketball player, nearly everyone agrees that he should have made the All Stars side. He definitely should have at least made the reserves.
And whilst it might be easy and instinctive to cry foul, Boston fans and indeed the Celtics themselves should thank the selectors for gifting the Celtics another shot at the playoffs.
It’s no secret that Rondo is the glue that holds three solid but aging limbs together.
Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are not going to get any younger, and whilst they are still more than capable of mixing it with the best in the NBA, they are not going to get any better either.
Thus it’s critical that Rondo is around to assist them – literally and figuratively – in performing to the best of their ability.
Despite higher than his career numbers, his stats this season don’t scream incredible, but significant none the less. Per game, he’s currently averaging 13.1 points, 9.5 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.6 steals per game – again not incredible but definitely significant.
Once you factor in to that his defensive skills and his ability to hold this Celtics side together, Rondo’s role and importance in this side is far higher than any statistics will show.
Rondo is without a doubt the best player on the Celtics roster and perhaps one of the best point guards in the league, and if you don’t agree, just ask the Chicago Bulls.
After getting snubbed for Deron Williams and Joe Johnson in the All Stars reserves, Rondo put up a lazy 32 points in a crushing win over the Eastern Conference leaders. Throw in to that mix 10 rebounds, 15 assists and two steals in the space of a minute and Rajon Rondo had what you could call a big night out.
And despite the obvious reaction to Rondo’s big night being to question why he was an omission from the All Stars weekend, think about what you would rather as the Celtics.
Would you rather watch your point guard put up a triple-double in a meaningless match where defense doesn’t exist, or would you rather watch him do it against the number one seed in the conference?
Or would you rather watch him go down in a heap in the final minute of play with a season-ending injury, or would rather watch him lead the Celtics in to another playoffs berth.
The answers are obvious.
With the age of Garnett, Allen and Pierce almost as high as Jeremy Lin’s popularity rating, a fully fit and on-fire Rondo is the most needed thing for the Celtics this season.
They don’t need an All Stars game, and they don’t need to be right about whether their brilliant point guard should have been there or not.
All they really need is to keep winning basketball games, and if they continue to play like they did against the Chicago Bulls on Sunday night, you can guarantee that that’s exactly what will follow.
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