Tonight, Rajon Rondo is going to be playing back in Boston for the first time since the Celtics traded him to the Mavericks last month. And during an interview with reporters earlier today, Rondo said that he's going to be doing something else for the first time in a long time back in Boston, too: Playing defense.
According to Rondo, he didn't play any D over the course of the last two seasons when he was with the Celtics. He says that's changed since he joined the Mavericks but that he's still adjusting to playing intense defense with Dallas.
"I haven't played defense in a couple years," he said. "I've been able to hide it a lot with Avery Bradley on the ball. He's helped me out, the young guy. But here they expect me to play defense. And in the West, if you don't play defense, you'll get embarrassed every night at the point guard position. I took it as a challenge [for] myself. It's not just me. It's my teammates. Our communication is getting a lot better and our coverages are getting better. So it's the whole team concept, it's not just me."
If what Rondo says is true, how did he get away with not playing defense for two years? Granted, he's been injured a lot over the last two seasons. But still. And is that really something that he should have publicly admitted?
[via Eye on Basketball]
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