9/30/2009
The Celtics are fully aware of the precedent established by Parker,
who improved his shooting to become MVP of the '07 NBA Finals. "Oh, we've
brought that up many times in our conversations," said Ainge of his talks
with Rivers. "His curse is that he's so talented, and in a deciding game
of the ('08) NBA Finals of such magnitude -- with Kobe [Bryant], Ray [Allen],
Paul, KG, [Pau] Gasol on the court -- Rondo was the best player in the
gym." In that decisive Game 6 Rondo finished with 21 points, 8 assists, 7
rebounds and 6 steals.
First, let me give credit where credit is due. It was Bob
Ryan, not Danny Ainge or I, who first observed that Rajon Rondo was the best
player on the floor in the decisive game of the 2008 NBA Finals. However, once
you've emerged as a player who can step up in a decisive playoff game, especially
a player in his early 20s, only the sky is your limit at that point.
I didn't start the "Rondo for league MVP" campaign immediately. On
12/3/2008, I apparently observed that, while "no MVP candidate," any
point guard who can tally
a triple double in 24 minutes might be worth keeping. Less than a year
later, I'd seen enough. In the season de Rasheed
Wallace, I declared that for the Green to return to the Finals and claim
what rightly belonged to them, Rajon Rondo, aka "Shorty," needed to
become Boston's
D.Wade more often than not. On December 9, 2009, the curtains were pulled
away, and I made clear what was implied in the previous post. It
was time for Rajon Rondo to enter the MVP discussion. Magic
Johnson seemed to agree. And while we're thinking about Magic, let us not
forget the mind-numbing
collection of posts comparing Rondo to #32 from the purple (BTW, Magic has long had a man crush on #9).
League-wide consideration of Shorty for MVP never really materialized. For
one reason or another, Rondo resisted my call. But that didn't stop me from
continuing the campaign last spring (here
and here),
this summer (here
and here),
and now again today. Well gang I finally have some company. ESPN broached the
topic last
week.
You might say, big whoop.
What difference does that make?
Ah, but recall that the NBA MVP award
is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters
throughout the United States and Canada, and starting the season with a
writer from ESPN mentioning your name in conjunction with said award doesn't
exactly hurt your chances. It's sort of like instead of your brother standing
on a street corner yelling "Rondo for President" (me), you now have
national party leaders giving thought to the idea.
Rajon, are you listening?
If not now, when?
3 comments:
I'm right there with you! If Perk can't be MVP, my second choice is Rondo :) There have been many, many games over the past 5 years that Rondo has been the best player on the court. But as you alluded to in your previous post the perception that he can't shoot has kept him from serious MVP consideration in my opinion. Let's hope that in his travels Rondo (Like Brandon Bass) has taken his shooting coach with him and this is the season he unveils that deadly and consistent jumper. With that, there would be no question he belongs at the top of the MVP talks.
Rondo with a deadly jumper would be beyond scary
I'm getting goosebumps at the mere thought of it.
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