Holy crap did this ridiculous Ray Allen/Rajon Rondo trade rumor have legs. I mean... we threw it up there as a "ha ha... you asked for rumors and this dumb one surfaced" type of thing. But it just kept making the rounds. People pulled quotes that appeared next to neanderthal cave paintings to use as fodder for a "Celtics are shopping Rondo" piece.
So this is forcing the Celtics into damage control... even though they had nothing to do with it.
A source within the Boston Celtics organization insisted that contrary to reports, the team is not looking to trade point guard Rajon Rondo.
"Can he be frustrating at times? Absolutely. But no one is ready to give up on him," the source said.
"Whoever put the Rondo rumors out there obviously works for someone other than the Celtics."
... "My guess is some other team talked to (the Celtics), mentioned Ray in passing, and then the other team took it to people throughout the league who accepted it as gospel. That's how these things get started, and now Danny is going to have to get out there and refute all this stuff that he really had nothing to do with.
So Rondo isn't on the trading block. But he IS in China... along with Houston's Aaron Brooks and Detroit's Rip Hamilton as part of a Nike tour.
Yesterday, I brought up how Magic said Kobe is Larry Bird's favorite player. Today, Brian Shaw is weighing and comparing the two.
In terms of the stuff they're both made of, yes there is definitely a comparison. There's some of the same stuff. Obviously, they got things done in different ways, but in terms of their preparation, the mental aspect of the game, focus, discipline and the work they put in – come in early, stay late – and how personal they take it when they don't succeed – and then the time they put in after that to make sure it doesn't happen again, I would say they're identical when it comes to that.
I'd say most superstars are like that. It's a killer instinct that's impossible to understand. More on Kobe later today.
