Rajon Rondo Is the Best Point Guard in the NBA

Rajon Rondo is the current MVP of the Celtics and makes his teammates better. A great defender and rebounder as well. But to say he's the best PG in the NBA? I think at this point, that's quite a stretch. His FT shooting is horrid (shot 26% in the Finals--which must be an NBA record low for a PG in the Finals), and his mid-range and outside jumpers are lacking. If he can work on these weaknesses, then I think your claim would hold up.


The point guard position is the most important in the NBA. Not only does the point guard act as the floor general, he is the first line of defense and often a strong, vocal leader. There are so many outstanding point guards in the NBA today, but one is rapidly becoming a true MVP candidate.

Rajon Rondo of the Boston Celtics is taking the NBA by storm. This veteran four-year player from Kentucky continues to prove waves of critics wrong each year.

Rondo is the best point guard in the NBA; he is the total package. He is the best rebounding guard in the game by far, is an excellent passer, and an All-NBA first team defender. While his his scoring is not needed so much on the Celtics, he is a very capable scorer with either his improved mid-range jumper or beating his opponents off the dribble with his impeccable speed.

Rondo is very similar to Jason Kidd in his prime. Rajon may not have the shooting range Kidd had, but he is a triple-double threat every night against any team.

Defense has been the staple of the Boston Celtics since their 2008 NBA championship winning season. Rondo is at the forefront of Boston's defensive dominance, earning a first team All-NBA defensive honor last season, averaging 2.3 steals per game, and being a nightmare for the NBA's top players, including Kobe Bryant, Deron Williams, and Chris Paul.

Rajon's true value is found in his postseason play. He has five career playoff triple-doubles in only three postseasons. In the 2010 playoffs, Rondo averaged 15.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, and 9.3 apg. His amazing triple-double in Game Four of the Eastern Conference Semifinals vs. Cleveland was a perfect example of his value to the Celtics. In a must win game, Rondo handily outplayed Lebron.

Rondo is the player the Celtics absolutely cannot lose. He is a truly unique talent, and they have no one to replace his set of skills. When Kevin Garnett was lost for the 2009 playoffs, the Celtics were still a championship contender, but without Rondo, the Celtics would not have advanced past the first round, especially in 2009 when Boston endured an all-time classic seven game series vs. Chicago. In that epic series, Rondo was the series' dominant player, outplaying Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose.

Rondo has his flaws too, just like every NBA player. His foul shooting is quite poor, and while he has worked with the NBA leader in all-time free throw percentage Mark Price, there is little improvement in his free throw performance.

However, the biggest knock on Rondo is his outside shooting. Many teams dare Rajon to shoot the ball because they do not think he can consistently knock it down, and they do not want to get burned by his great speed and quickness.

In comparison to other top point guards, Rondo's all-around talents outshine many popular guards. Chris Paul, one of the most overrated players in the NBA, cannot lead a team like Rondo does. He is too selfish and wants to score way too often. Even though New Orleans does not have an offense as good as Boston's, Paul needs to learn to make his teammates much better players because the greatest point guards of the NBA made their teammates play at two or three higher levels than before. Magic Johnson made James Worthy, Byron Scott, and AC Green far better players than they would have been if Magic was not a Laker.

The closest player to Rajon Rondo is Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz. Still underrated, Williams is very valuable to the Jazz, and like Paul, he is one of their primary offensive options. But in the playoffs, Williams has not done enough to vault his Jazz to the next level. The Jazz always come up short, granted they have run into the Lakers often the past few seasons. But Deron should still be able to get what he wants against LA, but he has not yet performed to his regular season prowess in the playoffs.

As Rondo continues to improve, he will become almost unguardable. When he can shoot from the outside with great consistency, he will become one of the top five players in the NBA. His offense, playmaking, and defensive abilities make him the total package and a true threat to become the 2011 NBA MVP.

The MVP award is not a best player award, and many fans fail to realize this. Rondo's value to the Celtics is unmatched by any player for any team. The media and fans alike did not expect Boston to make the NBA Finals last season, entering the playoffs as a fourth seed. But with Rajon Rondo healthy, Boston can easily lift the Larry O'Brien trophy next June.

I remember thinking it was Ray Allen's stellar play that propelled the Celtics past the Bulls in the 2009 playoffs. Without Kevin Garnett they had no chance of contending for the title that year, if Rondo were injured in lieu of KG then who knows, basketball hypotheticals are a slippery slope. What if McHale had remained healthy in 86? Maybe the Celtics would have been the shoo-in for the title, perhaps not.

I'm a huge Celtics fan, but in all honesty, Rondo is not the league's top point guard. His offensive woe's are too much of a liability, especially in late game situations where opposing defenders cheat off of him or he becomes too tentative to initiate contact moving toward the basket out of fear of missing free throws. It was not a coincidence that the Celtics offense would freeze up at the end of games and default to a inefficient half-court set when Rondo became too hesitant to drive the lane; the most egregious example being game 7 of the finals this year.

Rondo is the best defender at the point in the NBA currently, and one of the, if not the most, skilled passers. However, until he develops a consistent mid-range jumper and free throw stroke, he cannot be considered the best point guard in the NBA. Overlooking his shooting woes is too much of a glaring omission.