BOSTON — Rajon Rondo wasn’t looking to make a big deal over some bacon and eggs.
The Celtics point guard met Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant for breakfast Thursday, one day before their teams were set to square off at TD Garden.
Some old-school thinkers might consider that to be odd or even unacceptable behavior for two competitors, but to Rondo, it was just a case of two friends getting together to talk basketball.
“We just talked about 2008, 2009, ’10 seasons,” Rondo said after Friday’s game, which the Celtics won 113-96. “Him being a leader leading a lot of young guys this season, me doing the same thing. The struggles he’s going through, the struggles I’m going through as far as leading this team, and just how to handle it.”
Rondo and Bryant have long been rivals, with the former eliminating the latter in the 2008 NBA Finals and Bryant returning the favor two seasons later. Interestingly, Rondo said that mutual dislike was what brought the two stars together in the first place.
“I think his initial … I think he called me an (a–hole), and I thought the same thing of him,” he said. “It was just two (a–holes) having breakfast.”
That 2010 Finals loss remains a source of motivation for Rondo each time he sees the purple and gold.
“They stole the last championship from me in 2010,” he said. “So every time we play them, I want to kick their butt.”
Boston did just that Friday, blowing out L.A. behind 24 points from Tyler Zeller and 16 assists from Rondo.
Thumbnail photo via Mark L. Baer/USA TODAY Sports Images
