Rajon Rondo Sometimes Catches Himself Using Doc Rivers’ Old Lines, May Try Coaching After He Retires

Like any employee, Rajon Rondo did not always see eye to eye with his boss, Doc Rivers. That doesn’t mean Rondo disliked playing for Rivers or that he didn’t learn a great deal in the seven years they spent together in Boston.

Rondo has taken on something of an assistant coach’s role when he has been sidelined due to injury or suspension in the last couple of seasons. He was active on the Celtics’ bench during Wednesday’s preseason game against the Knicks, offering advice to teammates and at one point even coach Brad Stevens in Providence.

Occasionally, Rondo is surprised at the cliches he hears himself repeating from his old coach.

“I still catch myself myself laughing at some of the things he’s told certain guys, and now I find myself quoting some of the things that Doc has said to individual guys,” Rondo told the Boston Herald. “I’ve learned a lot from Doc. I’ve tried to study his ways as far as coaching, because I might want to coach someday myself.”

It’s hard to imagine a person who hates media scrums and harmless questions as much as Rondo dealing with the day-in, day-out interview obligations of a head coach. Yet his unbridled self-confidence would make it tough for him to be an assistant, either. There is no doubt Rondo knows the game and sees it differently than a lot of players and even coaches, however, so don’t be surprised to see Rondo calling plays one day.

Don’t expect him to be as media-friendly as Rivers, though. Nobody changes that much.