Celtic point-guard dishes out assists

December 05, 2008

Mansfield News

For someone who doesn’t get up before 2:30 p.m. on most days, Rajan Rondo was pretty busy on Tuesday morning at Shaw’s on Route 140 in Mansfield.

After dishing out 12 assists in the Boston Celtics’ 107-88 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday, the 22-year-old point-guard gave an even bigger one to the New England Food Bank, signing autographs and filming a commercial to raise awareness for feeding those in need.

“I had a couple of opportunities to do things,” said Rondo. “I wanted to do something. Most people aren’t aware of how many people in this country go hungry. You think of it happening in other countries. This is a great cause, and it means a lot to me to do this.”

Off the court, Rondo is spearheading the ninth annual Spirit of Giving Food Drive, which is being conducted at almost 200 Shaw’s and Star Markets in New England. Individuals can purchase shopping bags filled with grocery items to be donated to the Good Shepherd Food Bank (Maine), the New Hampshire Food Bank, the Vermont Food Bank, the Greater Boston Food Bank, the Worcester County Food Bank, Rhode Island Community Food Bank, Connecticut Foodshare and the Connecticut Food Bank.

Rondo took the offer to help out the Spirit of Giving Food Drive, deciding he wanted to do what he could to help out the charity.

“People think it’s overseas and out of the country, but we have our own problems here in America,” he said.

Being in his third year with the Celtics after being a No. 1 draft pick out of the University of Kentucky, Rondo is the point-guard of the defending NBA champions and one of the rising stars in the league. That's giving him fame, stardom and a hefty paycheck.

“Anything I can do to help out, I’m for that,” said Rondo. “I’ve been blessed to be in this situation. Anything I can do to help give back.”

The Celtic star stood in the middle of aisle nine with the soda, diet soda, distilled water and bottled water, signing everything from basketball, shirts and to even a copy of Peter May’s new book on the 2007-08 season. Rondo hadn’t seen the book, but a woman gave him a copy of the book right after Rondo had signed it for her.

“My grandchildren wanted to come to work with me after they heard he was going to be there,” said Ellen Martin, who works at Shaw’s and whose grandchildren, Cleo. Taylor and Cameron Whitman and Thomas Smith, were in line to get Rondo’s autograph.

Rondo was operating on a few hours of sleep after the win over the Magic and was headed right for practice after the Mansfield event.

Getting better individually and as a team is something the point guard is striving for. After the win over Orlando, the Celtics were 17-2, and it looks like they're headed back to playoffs and a title repeat.

“Our entire goal this year is to be a better team then we were last year,” said Rondo. “That’s our main goal, and each day we have to work to be better.”

When players enter the NBA from the college ranks, there’s an adjustment period they go through. With his speed, getting used to the pace of the pro game wasn’t that difficult for Rondo, but there is getting use to the fact that in one NBA season, you play more games than you during your entire college career.

“It’s mental,” he said of making the switch. “You have to diet, and the wear and tear on your body is tough.”

Another difference is if teams get up by 15 points in college, they can usually start preparing their victory speech. That’s an entirely different story in the NBA, like the Celtics proved when they came back in game four in Los Angeles after falling behind by 24 points to the Lakers on their way to a 97-91 victory.

“The game is about runs, and you are really never out of the game,” said Rondo. “You can be down 15 to 20 points at halftime and you can still come back to win the game. You don’t have the skilled players and the scoring power to do that in college. In the pros, you are never out of a game.”

If Rondo wasn't in the NBA working in Boston, he might be in Foxboro, playing for the Patriots. He was an outstanding football player in high school and also played baseball.

“Football was my dream,” said Rondo. “I watched the NFL all the time because we usually have Sundays off. Now (the NFL) plays throughout the week. “

During the TV commercial shoot, Rondo was surrounded by local schoolchildren, some wearing Rondo Celtic jerseys, like Mansfield’s Ben Sylvester, 10.

‘It was fun,” said Sylvester. When asked whether he thought he would ever meet the Celtic point-guard, he said, “Nah,” with a smile.

Sean Ryan, 11, of Mansfield, had special reason for wanting to meet No. 9. Rondo is his favorite Celtic.

“He’s a really good passer and really good at defense,” said Ryan.

Mitch Levine. 9, thought he was going to get something signed, but didn’t expect to meet Rondo and be in the commercial.

“”I didn’t know I was going to be in that many pictures,” he said. “It was really cool.”

Rachel and Mitch Grusilin were also part of the commercial.

“It was really cool,” said Mitch. “Rondo is one of my favorite players.”

December 05, 2008

Press Room