National Basketball Association

Rajon Rondo: A King Once More

Published Dec. 13, 2015 12:02 p.m. ET

foxsports

By Braxton Carr

If you ask 10 different people for their opinion on Rajon Rondo, you will invariably receive 10 vastly different responses. Should the person in question be a Celtics fan, you'll hear reminiscing over the glory days of the original "Big Three" and fond remembrance of the urban legend that was "Playoff Rondo." If you've asked a person who happens to be a member of the media, they'll fill you in on his well-documented difficult personality.

And if you've asked a Mavericks fan, they will likely inform you quite bitterly of the more recent edition of playoff Rondo, the one who effectively flamed out in the 2014 Western Conference playoffs, offering the meager contribution of 19 points, six assists, and two rebounds over two games.

"Rajon Rondo is out indefinitely with a back injury," the injury report read after Game 2. No one believed it. Indeed, The Mavs and Rondo made a mutual decision to part ways the next day, sources told ESPNDallas.com, citing the back injury to help the four-time All-Star point guard save face.

The end of the road seemed nigh for Rondo, a former star now being forced to reckon with his own basketball mortality. Rondo himself was audibly aware of this decline. "I haven't played defense in a couple of years," he told Masslive.com's Jay King. He signed a one-year, $9.5 million contract with the Sacramento Kings.

The signing wasn't ridiculed, but it wasn't exactly met with thunderous applause, either. "When Rajon Rondo signed with the Kings in the offseason, he did so because no one else wanted him," wrote SB Nation's Jesus Gomez. "Mercurial point guards with broken jumpers aren't exactly coveted pieces."

The NBA world awaited the assumed, inevitable combustion of Rondo in Sacramento. The writing, fans thought, was on the wall—this was the supposed final fall of Rondo's star. But then something funny happened: Rondo's been good. Better than good, in fact. Rondo has been fantastic.

[click to see video of Rondo's huge dunk]

"I didn't know he had that in his game!" exclaims Kenny Smith as Rondo torches poor Jose Calderon in the video above. Yeah, nobody did. We all assumed Rondo was a shadow of himself. Instead, in 24 games this season for the Kings, Rondo has averaged 12.6 points, 11 assists, 6.9 rebounds, and two steals per game. His PER is a robust 18.05, placing him in the same territory as well-regarded players such as Mike Conley and Brandon Knight.

Perhaps most peculiar of all, the "point guard with no jump shot" is taking 3.2 three-pointers per game and making 1.2 of them, which is good for a very respectable 0.375 shooting clip from deep. He's made 21 of 56 three-pointers, a volume and accuracy shared by himself, Jarrett Jack, and Harrison Barnes, two players generally considered far rangier than Rondo.

It's not certain that this is sustainable—Rondo's career shooting percentage from the three-point range is 0.274, and he still can't shoot free throws—but Rondo is posting numbers that can't be ignored. In terms of raw numerics, he is rivaling his best-ever 2012-13 season numbers, which was, coincidentally, his final season as an all-star. An added bonus: he's leading the league in triple-doubles this season, getting four in just 24 games.

Perhaps most telling of all, Rick Carlisle, the Mavericks coach who pulled the cord on the mercurial point guard and the person who you might expect to be the least optimistic about Rondo, isn't surprised by his successful season at all.

"Anyone who knows Rondo knew he was gonna bounce back with a monster year this year," said Carlisle to Tim MacMahon. "George Karl has done a brilliant job and put him in position to be a max player next year."

[click to see video of Rondo's vintage pass]

The magic is back for Rondo. The numbers are beautiful, certainly, but Rondo looks good doing it. The flashy passes, the tight handle, the uncanny ability to see the plays unfold three steps ahead of time: it's all there. The very same factors that caused Rondo to capture our hearts and imaginations all those years ago against LeBron James in the playoffs have resurfaced with no signs of going back into hibernation.

Welcome back, Rondo. Stay a while.

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