Brian Scalabrine Shares Story of “Smartest” Teammate

Not only is he a great player, he is a good person. Rondo is the type of teammate players want, who helps them and lifts them up. He makes everyone around him better.

In a 2018 documentary, “Anything is Possible: The Story of the 2008 Celtics”, former NBA player and teammate of Rajon Rondo, Brian Scalabrine, shared a story of Rondo.

 Scalabrine became an assistant coach for the Warriors after he retired. During a game against the Celtics at TD Garden, the head coach, Mark Jackson, shouted a fake play to the Warriors to confuse the Celtics. He shouted “42 cross”, but Rondo knew that was not a play in the Warriors’ playbook. Rajon looked at Jackson and said, “You don’t have a 42 cross”, catching on to what Jackson did.

How Rondo was able to read between the lines. Unless he had a special inside source with the Golden State Warriors, Rondo was able to smell the fake call coming from a mile away.

It was likely that Rondo knew the call was fake from studying and remembering Warriors tape in such detail that most players (people) can’t.