Rajon Rondo Is Officially Retiring And His Next Stop Should Be The Basketball Hall Of Fame

Jesse D. Garrabrant. Getty Images.

Now, when you haven't played an NBA game since April 10, 2022 and aren't currently on an NBA roster, I suppose the whole "retirement announcement" thing is more of a formality than anything else. At the same time, who gives a shit. As someone who loves Rajon Rondo and considers him one of the best point guards I've ever had the privilege of watching, if we want to consider today the day to honor Rondo now that he's finally made it crystal clear he's calling it a career that's more than fine by me.

Easily one of the best pure point guards to ever play for my favorite team, Rondo will forever be one of my favorite Celtics of all time. Shit, I'm blogging this under him as we speak.

From everything he did to help this team win a title in 2008, the legend that is Playoff Rondo, the fact that his powers from #9 are currently being transfused into Bald Derrick White, it's impossible to not love Rajon Rondo as a Celtics fan. The day he got traded was brutal, and I always did wish he would somehow find a way back. Whether that was as a player or as a coach I didn't really care. Considering he has one of the greatest basketball minds of this era, I always hoped it would happen.

And I know there are rumors that he also won a title with the Lakers, but somehow my brain doesn't remember it. Are we sure that even happened? I have no problem spending the rest of my life pretending it didn't, because let's be honest. It feels wrong.

So now that his playing days are officially over, it's time for my favorite exercise. 

Is Rajon Rondo a Hall Of Famer?

Let's check the resume:

- 4x All Star

- 3x AST champ

- 1x All NBA

- 4x All NBA Defense

- 1x STL champ

- All Rookie Team

- 2x NBA Champ

In terms of accolades, it's an interesting case. A little low on overall All NBA teams, but 4x All Defensive Teams certainly stands out. Leading the league in assists 3x is also pretty impressive. Now let's look at the production

- 15th all time in AST (7,584)

- 51st all time in STL (1,518)

As someone who didn't crack 10,000 points, he's nowhere close to even the top 250 all time in terms of scoring.

So on the surface, I imagine most people will say "NO" when talking about Rondo's HOF candidacy. I'm just not so sure it's that simple. Basketball Reference has him with a 60% chance of getting in, so while that's not a slam dunk first ballot type of percentage, it does tell us that perhaps after a few years on the ballot he may actually get in. 

What makes it tough is when you look at Rondo's similarity scores, it's not exactly flush with HOFers

I feel like when it comes to Rondo, it's never going to be about the stats. You sort of had to experience it to truly understand him as a player. That makes it tough for a HOF argument, but not impossible. Rondo was honestly ahead of his time with how he played the point guard position, and I feel like that should matter. He's got the titles, he's got a legit resume in terms of accolades, he just doesn't have the insane box score production like some other HOFers.

But make no mistake, Rajon Rondo had multiple seasons as one of, if not the best pure point guard in the NBA. 

So if you ask me? Hell yeah Rajon Rondo is a HOFer (eventually). Yes, I am about as biased as it comes when talking about this player, but this is my blog so I don't give a shit. He's not going to get his #9 up in the rafters at the Garden, so I'll settle for the Hall Of Fame as long as he's going in as a Celtic.