Now with the Atlanta Hawks, veteran point guard Rajon Rondo will be entering the 15th season of what has been an illustrious career. During his younger years, Rondo had the privilege of going toe-to-toe against prime Derrick Rose of the Chicago Bulls. Rondo recently talked about his experience playing against Rose during the latter's MVP days, and unsurprisingly, Rondo had nothing but high praise for Rose.
Appearing in an episode of All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Rondo expressed how in his mind, prime D-Rose was on a whole nother level:
“No, man, nobody,” Rondo responded when Barnes asked if prime Rose compared to any player he had faced, via K.C. Johnson of NBC Sports Chiago.
“Seven-game series when he was out there? Boy, he put your (expletive) in trouble,” Rondo said. “You're on your heels the whole game.”
Rondo was one of the top point guards in the league during his heyday, playing a key role in the Boston Celtics' historic championship back in 2008. One of Rondo's biggest adversaries was Rose, who himself became the youngest MVP in 2011.
During his prime, Rose was one of the best offensive players in the game. Guarding him was no easy task, which resulted in opposing teams packing the paint in an attempt to prevent Rose from getting to the basket. Rondo acknowledged this tactic, but explained why it wasn't a sure-fire way of stopping Rose:
“And he still getting in there and jumping over everybody,” Rondo said of the former Bulls superstar. “He was too explosive. He was for sure a one-man fast break every night.”
Both Rose and Rondo will go down in history as two of the greatest point guards in the game. Both guys are also in the twilight of their respective careers, so at this point, we all just better enjoy them while we still can.
Follow Us
Subscribe