Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there’s nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
Sometime in the coming months, likely in October, the Boston Celtics will almost certainly announce that Rajon Rondo has been named the 15th captain of the storied franchise.
Taking the torch from Paul Pierce, who brought much-needed stability to the captain’s role in 2000, Rondo will formally be tasked with being the veteran voice and anointed leader of a Celtics team entering a murky transition phase.
Will More Leadership Suit Rondo?-ESPN Boston
Oh boy…this topic. It’s always been a hotbed of controversy at this site & most others in the blogosphere. But like it or not, Rondo will join names like Cousy, Bird & Havlicek in becoming Boston’s next captain. The question is, and has been, will he be a good leader. It’s been talked about over & over for the last few years, and now with KG & Truth gone, we will finally see if he can truly lead this team.
You see, getting the C isn’t the hard part in Boston. It’s how long you maintain that post that dictates your legacy as a leader. Will Rondo be part of the longevity club, captains who served in that role for more than a decade and don’t need their first name to be referenced in these parts like Cousy (1950-63), Bird (1980-92) and Pierce (2000-13)? Or will the captain’s crest bounce around as it did in the ’90s, when, after Bird capped his 13-year run in 1992, eight different players — more than half the total that have worn it since 1950 — were named captain of Boston teams that were trapped in the rebuilding process?
Rondo has tremendous pressure on him this season-tremendous. Two of arguably the franchise’s favorite players are gone, and the torch has been passed to #9. All of his detractors are drooling at the thought of him “failing” so they can say “see-told you so”. But he also has quite a few supporters out there who are holding on to hope that he can lead the young nucleus of Green, Sullinger, Bradley & himself to at the very least a competitive season. It will be interesting to see if as some of the readers suggested yesterday, Danny brings in another veteran player for Rajon to kind of “lean on” in what could be a “lean” year.
But that doesn’t take much pressure off Rondo. Entering the 2013-14 season, he no longer has that Big Three support system. No longer are Pierce and Garnett here to echo his message. At the moment, Rondo doesn’t have a close friend like Keyon Dooling to nudge him in the right direction in terms of being a vocal leader.
Check out the rest of Forsberg’s piece-it really poses some great questions on the age old Rondo debate.
The rest of the links The link:
NBA.com: Report-Thunder Bring Gomes Back To NBA
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