Jrue Holiday played one season with former Celtics guard Rajon Rondo, 2017-18 with the New Orleans Pelicans. Chris Szagola/Associated Press
BOSTON — Joe Mazzulla made a point of inviting former Celtics back to visit the team during training camp and another former champion was back in town on Friday. Former captain Rajon Rondo was back in Boston at the Auerbach Center, joining former champions like Paul Pierce, Eddie House and Leon Powe who have visited with the team in recent weeks.
“My driver got lost and I got to the coaches’ meeting about 10 minutes to go and we kinda sat and got a chance to talk, Sam (Cassell) and I, (Jeff) Van Gundy,” Rondo said. “A good opportunity to talk basketball, hear each other’s thoughts, hear each other out.”
Rondo was asked about his impressions of the roster and made a point of singling out one new addition to the team in Jrue Holiday.
“Well, they’re pretty impressive, obviously, like everyone thinks on paper,” Rondo said. “But I love the Jrue Holiday pick-up. He’s one of my favorite teammates I’ve ever played with all-time and I’m excited for you guys to see what he can bring night in, night out.”
Rondo teamed up with Holiday for one season in New Orleans during the 2017-18 where the Pelicans advanced to the second round after a surprise sweep of the Blazers. Holiday played off the ball next to Rondo during that season and left a strong mark on the veteran guard.
“Just his mentality, his mindset, his professional approach to the game, and just what he brings out there on the court,” Rondo said of Holiday. “He does a lot of intangibles, he’s a very unselfish guy, and he’s fun to be around. But he’s a winner. He’s a competitor.”
Holiday will likely slide into a starting role next to Derrick White this season for Boston. The Celtics open up their season against the Knicks on Wednesday night in New York with title aspirations. While Rondo won’t be a fixture in Boston this season, he will be available for the team if they need him.
“I don’t know exactly what I’m going to say to those guys.” Rondo said. If they want my input I’m willing to give it, and my advice. I’m going to help as much as possible but I don’t want to come in as a guy that knows it all or thinks I’m gonna give them so much advice. I’m just gonna let it come natural, so.”
• With a new team comes a new number for Jrue Holiday, but he wanted to make sure it was OK with a Celtics fan-favorite before making it official.
Holiday wore No. 21 while he was with the Milwaukee Bucks, but the Celtics retired that number in honor of Bill Sharman. Holiday wore No. 11 to begin his NBA career, but Payton Pritchard currently wears that with the Celtics.
So Holiday landed on No. 4, which Isaiah Thomas wore during his time in green.
The 33-year-old revealed to The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn that he chose No. 4 because he’s one of four children and because of Thomas – who played with the Celtics for three seasons and has many memorable moments. But before he committed to No. 4, he reached out to Thomas to get his blessing.
“Been super close with the holiday family since 2008!,” Thomas posted on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter. “That’s my dawg. Go kill in that (expletive) familyyyyy lol.”
Others have worn No. 4 after Thomas, but none left an impact on the team and the city quite like he did.
Thomas’ three seasons with the Celtics cemented him as a fan-favorite. In arguably the best stretch of his career he averaged 24.7 points, six assists an 2.7 rebounds per game.
WARRIORS: Andre Iguodala, a four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors during a 19-year NBA career, is retiring.
“It’s just the right time,” the 39-year-old Iguodala told Andscape in a telephone interview. “Time started to get limited for me and I didn’t want to put anything in the back seat. I didn’t want to have to try to delegate time anymore. Especially with on the court, off the court with family. A lot.”
He said family has a lot of do with his decision.
“You want to play at a high level. But then family is a lot. My son is 16 and then two girls. So, (I’m) looking forward to seeing them grow up in those important years,” he said.
Iguodala, the No. 9 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft out of Arizona, played in 1,231 games. He spent eight seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, one in Denver, six with Golden State, two in Miami and the last two back with the Warriors. He was part of NBA champions in 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2022 and the MVP of the Finals in 2015.
Over his career, he averaged 11.3 points – including a high of 19.9 with the 76ers in 2007-08 – 4.9 rebounds and 4.2 assists. He made his only All-Star appearance in 2012 with the 76ers.
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