Larry Hearts Rajon (and Danny too)

http://bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2014/03/celtics_legend_larry_bird_heaps_praise_on_rajon_rondo


INDIANAPOLIS — Larry Bird is still watching. Not as much as he used to, now that he’s back in charge of the Pacers, but he’s still aware of what the Celtics are up to.

And as his old team goes through rebuilding pains, Bird maintains an optimism in the project based largely on his belief in two of the key components. He is an unabashed fan of Rajon Rondo, and he reiterated his confidence in former teammate Danny Ainge, the Celts’ president of basketball operations.

Executives from other clubs are sometimes hesitant to talk up opposing players, but it’s not surprising that Bird appreciates the way Rondo sees the game and plays the game.

“Yeah, I appreciate the hell out of him,” Bird said. “I don’t know him at all, but in the playoffs he’s showed that he’s one of the better players in our league. It’s unfortunate he got hurt (Rondo returned in January from a torn ACL), but he’s amazing to watch.

“To be able to defend and make plays for other guys, that’s big. He makes a lot of players that are not really good look pretty damn good. And that’s a key.

“If you can make people around you better, it makes you one of the top players in our league.”

As for Ainge, Bird continued to offer praise.

“Danny’s really good at this,” he said. “Danny knows what he’s doing. He’s one of the best in the league. He spends a lot of time on it, and he’s got a lot of good help. I’m sure he’ll be fine.

“I never worry about Danny. Danny’s always done well.”

But Bird knows there are no easy paths back to prominence. He is aware that much of what a team would like to accomplish is in the hands of others and, in the case of the draft lottery, the luck of the ping-pong ball draw.

“I know how tough it is,” Bird said. “The thing I’ve always said is that when you key on a couple of players (free agents) and you really go after them, they end up going somewhere else. It makes it tough because you don’t really have any contact with them until right at the time.

“And in the draft, it’s always a crapshoot. You just never know. But if you do your work and really put the time in, then you can figure most of it out.”

Having played his entire career with the Celtics, Bird would have liked to see Paul Pierce do the same. But, again, he isn’t doubting Ainge’s decision to move Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn last summer, kick-starting the Celtics’ reconstruction in the process.

“My thing is you would always like to see Paul finish up there, and maybe he will,” Bird said. “But it’s tough. These decisions today are more scrutinized than they ever were. But you just hate to see a guy spend his whole career there and win a championship and then see him have to leave.

“But Danny knows what he’s doing. And maybe Paul can circle back around and finish up there.”

Part of the reason the Celts were compelled to deal Pierce and Garnett was based, in addition to getting first-round picks in return, on getting their salary structure in better line with the collective bargaining agreement.

“It’s tough,” Bird said. “The tax is brutal now. I know Boston’s been in the tax a lot in the past, but now 90-something percent of the owners don’t want to touch it. We like it here, because it makes it a level playing field.

“A lot of teams that are in the tax are trying to get under it and get out of it, and they give away players or picks. It’s a different league now than it was in the past, but I like it because it gives us an opportunity to put together a better team. But there are always going to be a couple of teams that the tax doesn’t mean anything to them.”

The Celtics hope to be good enough some day soon to warrant getting back into the tax.

“I know it’s hard,” Bird said. “But Danny will do well. They’ll be all right.”



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