Larry Bird and Wyc Grousbeck praise Rajon Rondo

Rondo has his fair share of detractors (mostly in the press) but there are plenty of very well respected people around the league that love him. One of them is Larry Legend himself.

Celtics legend Larry Bird heaps praise on Rajon Rondo, Danny Ainge | Boston Herald

"Yeah, I appreciate the hell out of him," Bird said. "I don’t know him at all, but in the playoffs he’s showed that he’s one of the better players in our league. It’s unfortunate he got hurt (Rondo returned in January from a torn ACL), but he’s amazing to watch. "To be able to defend and make plays for other guys, that’s big. He makes a lot of players that are not really good look pretty damn good. And that’s a key. "If you can make people around you better, it makes you one of the top players in our league."

Love hearing praise from Larry Bird, who legitimately doesn't pull punches because, ...well, he's Larry Bird. A part of me wonders if he's just saying these things to angle for a trade for Rondo in the offseason (he praises Danny Ainge as well), but I don't think Larry works that way. Even if he did, the ultimate compliment would be going out and getting the guy anyway.

Bottom line, Larry loves Rondo. Probably for the same reasons Kobe loves Rondo. They're all killers.

The Celtics love Rondo too, but do they love him enough? Danny has heaped praise on his point guard for years, all the while having 3 GMs on hold at any one time. Still, even if he found the right deal, he'd have to get it approved by the ownership group led by Wyc Grousbeck. So how does Wyc feel about Rondo?

Wyc Grousbeck on state of C's, Rondo, & Stevens | Comcast SportsNet - CSNNE.com

Grousbeck was asked if he sees Rondo being on this team for a very long time. "In a sense he already has been," Grousbeck said. "He's been here eight or nine years. I should get the number right, but it's one of those. I can't imagine the Celtics without him. It's challenging. There's a lot of interest in him. He's going to come up in a year on his free agency. So we're going to try to keep him. I hope it works out. If it doesn't work out we'll go to Plan B. But he's been great for us, he's got us a ring, and is now the captain of the team, and I love having him here."

Sounds like Wyc is where I'm at right now. Cautiously optimistic that he'll stick around, but trying to be mentally prepared in case he's not. There always has to be a Plan B, but that doesn't mean you should ever lose sight of going after Plan A.