The Legend of Rondo

(9 great stories on Number 9 by ESPN.com)

It's great to see all of the respect and accolades given to Rajon Rondo during this season's NBA Playoffs. It's been a thrill to watch the development of Rajon and the struggles and adversity he faced at Kentucky and through his initial transition into the NBA as a backup point guard. The winningest program in the history of college basketball, for some reason, has not produced many great NBA players. Although Rondo struggled at times at UK under Tubby Smith, we all saw the flashes of greatness in Lexington.

He has now developed into quite possibly the best NBA player UK has ever produced. He's the unquestioned leader on a Championship team that features a lineup of 3 future Hall of Famers. Rondo, who was considered a risky late first round pick for Boston in 2006, was brought in as a backup of Sebastian Telfair. Now, he's the face of the franchise and developing a Hall of Fame resume. Under Calipari, we should all get used to UK point guards dominating in the NBA, but John Wall, Brandon Knight, and Marquis Teague have a long ways to go to accomplish what Rondo already has.

ESPN.com has created a collection of nine articles chronicling the events of Rondo's rise to fame- from his childhood in Louisville, KY, through his high school careers at Eastern High and Oak Hill Academy, to his two years in Lexington at UK under Tubby Smith, all the way through the NBA Draft process and his initial struggles in Boston, and finally to his current status as the unquestioned leader of the Boston Celtics as they try to capture their 2nd NBA World Championship in three years.

I don't post many links on this site, but all nine of these articles are a MUST READ. Read them all (by clicking on the above logo on the top of the page) and watch him lead his Celtics tonight in Game 3 in Boston. The series with L.A. is tied 1 to 1.