The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inducted 12 new members Saturday, which prompted ESPN to analyze eligible NBA players in the coming years, including a Boston Celtics fan favorite.
Two-time NBA champion Rajon Rondo is eligible in 2026 and is listed as an honorable mention behind Carmelo Anthony and LaMarcus Aldridge.
“Basketball-Reference.com’s Hall of Fame probability metric has Rajon Rondo (61%) as more likely to make it than (LaMarcus) Aldridge (51%), but I’m skeptical the Hall will value Rondo’s two championships as highly as the model given the itinerant back half of his career,” ESPN’s Kevin Pelton wrote Saturday. “Had Rondo reached 10,000 assists, that milestone in conjunction with four All-Star appearances might have made him impossible to ignore, but he finished his career behind three players who haven’t gotten serious HOF consideration: Mark Jackson, Andre Miller and Rod Strickland.”
The point guard played with the Celtics from 2006-15, where he won a title in 2008. The fan favorite earned many accolades throughout his 16-year career, such as All-Rookie honors (2006-07) and four-time All-Defensive honors (2009-13) among multiple others.
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The 37-year-old ranks 49th in league history in regular-season steals with 1,518 and 14th in regular-season assists with 7,584, short of the 10,000 mark as Pelton mentioned.
The University of Kentucky alum was in talks earlier this year about joining the men’s basketball staff, having not formally retired but last participated in the 2021-22 NBA season.
Boston fans likely would be excited to see the former Celtic inducted into the Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. in 2026 given his résumé.
Featured image via Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports Images
