Green said that playing alongside Rondo was one reason he came back to Boston.
When Jeff Green came out of heart surgery in January, his doctors told him how worried his Boston Celtics teammates had been and how often they had checked up on him.
Green, who played just 35 games (including playoffs) during his one half-season with the Celtics, and his agent repeatedly mentioned the Celtics' care and attentiveness during the surgery and recovery as a major reason he re-signed with Boston rather than going somewhere else as a free agent.
So keep in mind that Rajon Rondo being the NBA's "best point guard" was not Green's only reason for returning to Boston. But he says it was one of them.
"Turn the cameras right there. That guy right there. Rajon. I wanted to play with him," Green replied when asked why he re-signed, according to ESPN Boston. "He's the best point guard in the league. I mean, who doesn't want to play with a good point guard? Then you've got guys in the locker room like [Kevin Garnett], Paul Pierce, and now with the addition of [Jason Terry], and Brandon [Bass] coming back, and you've got Courtney [Lee]. I mean, we have a hell of a team. Who doesn't want to be a part of something special like this? We have a great opportunity to win a championship. I want to win, so this is a great chance for me to do that."
How much of an impact does Rondo have on players' free agency decisions? It's difficult to tell exactly, but playing alongside one of the NBA's most selfless point guards, one of its best passers, is certainly a nice draw. It probably also helps Boston's cause with free agents that Rondo is now reversing his locker room reputation, though a certain Miami Heat shooting guard doesn't seem to be sending too many compliments north.
Speaking of Ray Allen's recent string of putdowns (which continued with a barb about many other free agents leaving the Celtics organization), Doc Rivers said he doesn't mind.
According to CSNNE, the Celtics coach said, "We're just going to let Ray keep talking, it's easier."