The Boston Celtics franchise has seen some iconic players come through its organization over the years, with many of those players going on to win multiple championships either with the team or elsewhere.
Along with having a reputation for being an organization that turns players into champions, many of these players are also as tough as they come, with Larry Bird and Kevin Garnett perhaps being the two players at the top of the list in that category.
However, one player who doesn’t get enough credit for his toughness during his time in Boston or in the NBA, for that matter, is point guard Rajon Rondo.
A perfect example of how tough Rondo was during his playing days with the Celtics is this story he shared with former NBA star J.J. Redick on The Old Man And The Three Podcast about playing through a torn ACL injury and not even knowing it.
As if that wasn’t ridiculous enough, Rondo found out about his knee diagnosis in a weird way, which may happen more often than not in today’s game.
.@RajonRondo shares his ACL injury experience and how he first heard his diagnosis on the radio.
Full episode: https://t.co/qikEhSQasg pic.twitter.com/gTS3lX3W7w
— TheOldMan&TheThree (@OldManAndThree) September 1, 2023
First of all, it is crazy that Rondo didn’t even realize that he had torn his ACL and kept the mindset to keep playing in hopes of breaking Larry Bird’s record for consecutive triple-doubles.
Secondly, finding out that the diagnosis was a torn ACL while listening to the radio is wild because that information somehow leaked from when it became official until it actually got to Rondo.
It just goes to show that players were built a bit differently during Rondo’s era, but the media was still as slick as ever, getting information that players hadn’t even been told yet.
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