Rondo Talks About Improving His Game, Adding Rasheed, And Lots More

SI.com has an interesting and fairly lengthy interview with Rajon Rondo up.  Some tidbits:

SI.com: How do you work on being a better floor general?

RR: I think it's just growing more mature, really. The more experience I get, the better I'll become. You have to know how to manage people's attitudes and you have to deal everyone differently. I can't respond to KG [Kevin Garnett] like I respond to Baby [Glen Davis]. Now we have Rasheed [Wallace] this year, so I have to manage his mind-set. Every player we pick up I have to learn their personality and learn how to deal with them on the court.

SI.com: With Rasheed now in Boston, do you have any concern on how all the big personalities will fit together?

RR: KG and Rasheed are pretty close friends. And Paul [Pierce] and Ray [Allen] flew out to Rasheed's house with Doc and Danny [to recruit him]. But as far as having egos, they should have them; they've earned them, they're All-Stars. The younger guys just have to follow, and I have to be the first young guy to follow and lead by example.

More after the jump, including Rondo's thoughts on Ainge's criticism over the summer, and his potential future in Boston.

SI.com: You mentioned Doc wanted you to be more of a leader. Danny Ainge made some headlines over the summer by saying he wanted you to offer more leadership and grow up in some cases. Were you surprised to hear his comments?

RR: I wasn't surprised. If he feels that way, then I have to pay attention and grow.

SI.com: Were Ainge's comments fair? Could you have handled some things better last season?

RR: Maybe on the court ... [when] a possession or two may go by and I'm frustrated about the game, and things aren't going well for me, I may get quiet or shut down, I may not talk as much on the defensive end and call out all the sets and all the screens. But I still have to call the plays and not be difficult in front of my teammates. I'm my harshest critic. If I can keep the team first whether I'm playing well or poorly and help us win, then my game doesn't really matter.

. . .

SI.com: Your name was bandied about in trade rumors around draft time. What were your thoughts about that?

RR: It seems like there's only been about five different guys who have been with one team their entire career, so there's always a possibility, especially for a guy of my caliber, to get traded. I'm sure if the Celtics had the opportunity to get a better point guard and not have to give up much ... you never know. But that's the business. I want to be wherever I'm wanted. I love being in Boston, but whoever wants me that's who I'm happy to play for.

SI.com: You could sign a contract extension this fall or you could test free agency next summer when a number of teams will be looking to buy talent. Is that an enticing possibility?

RR: That could be, but it's still early so I've got some time to see how things settle in Boston. If it doesn't, I'll play out the fourth year and see how things go next summer.

SI.com: Is it safe to assume you'd prefer to stay with the Celtics?

RR: If the Celtics want me, then I'd be happy to stay.

As always, I'd encourage you to click through to the original link; there's a lot of good stuff there.