Rajon Rondo drawing up plays in the huddle. pic.twitter.com/QiDhIAyJjk
— James Ham (@James_Ham) January 29, 2016
As far as basketball IQ is concerned, Rajon Rondo is certainly near the top of the NBA. He’s been described as a basketball savant by former coaches, and it’s easy to see why. He’s seemingly memorized every playbook of every team, to the point where he can correctly guess what play an opponent will run at the end of the game.
With George Karl out because of gastroenteritis, Rondo was able to put his basketball genius to work for acting head coach Chad Iske, drawing up a play for the Kings to execute.
This isn’t as abnormal as it may seem. Coaches often grow to trust their players enough to let them draw up plays. Gregg Popovich frequently lets the Spurs do this, and LeBron James has done it both in Cleveland and Miami. Even though Rondo hasn’t been on the Kings as long as Tim Duncan’s been on the Spurs, the coaching staff recognizes that his mind is one of his greatest weapons, and happily puts it to work.
