Rajon Rondo is an NBA champion once again after turning into a vital cog for the Los Angeles Lakers in their magnificent 2020 run. In the process, he became the only player to win a championship for the league's two most winningest franchises, the Lakers and Boston Celtics.

But as it turns out, that amazing feat wouldn't have turned into reality had the now 34-year-old playmaker acted upon an impulse decision back in 2014. Per ESPN's Rachel Nichols, Rondo told her that he seriously considered hanging it up in the aftermath of that disastrous one-year stint with the Dallas Mavericks in the 2014-15 season.

“He told me he almost retired a few years ago because when the catastrophe in Dallas happened between him and Rick Carlisle —and we can assign all kinds of blame for that,” Nichols revealed in an appearance on The Full 58 podcast, and relayed by SN Nation.  “He said that only two teams called him that offseason, and that he was sort of thinking, ‘Well maybe I just don’t want to do this anymore.’ He could have been out of basketball.”

Rajon Rondo, of course, made his mark in the league as the catalyst of that dominant Celtics squad that won the 2008 Larry O'Brien trophy. The 4-time All-Star, however, was bitten by the injury bug pretty hard during his last years in Beantown. Rondo tore his ACL in the 2012-13 campaign and broke his hand in his final year with the Cs in '14'-15.

He was traded to Dallas the following year and was expected to bolster a Mavs core that had veterans like Dirk Nowitzki, Tyson Chandler, and Monta Ellis. But Rondo didn't gel with his teammates and often clashed with Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle. His lack of chemistry with the team showed on the stat sheet, as Rondo only mustered 9.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 46 games in the Big D.

Rondo became a journeyman soon after that Texas pitstop, as he played for the Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, and New Orleans Pelicans before arriving in LA in 2018. Safe to say Rondo made the right choice of continuing his pro career, as his stock rose once more after bringing back “Playoff Rondo” this year.