You heard the hollerin' and the high-fives from around the corner as the Celtics made their way down the hall. Some marveled that the first game of the season felt like a playoff game.
The team's brass — Windsor knots loosened and collars open — congratulated players, coaches and each other as they headed for the lockers.
Kevin Garnett had that look in his eyes. Yeah, that look.
And Rasheed Wallace laughed — maybe even cackled — at the sight of two aging seven-footers (Shaquille O'Neal and Zydrunas Ilgauskas) in the same lineup.
"I love when they put both of them big guys in there," shouted Sheed. "We'll pick-and-roll on 'em all night!"
In fact, the Celtics had done just that, winning the first of what is expected to be a season-long duel between the two teams for Eastern Conference supremacy.
But amidst all the commotion, there was a very telling exchange between Danny Ainge and Rajon Rondo.
The Celtics' president of basketball operations grabbed his pricey point guard — the one whose agent had declared earlier in the day that a new deal with the Celtics by the Oct. 31 deadline was looking doubtful.
Ainge wore a sincere smile on his face. In fact, he was beaming as he praised Rondo for a performance that had been nothing short of brilliant. The moment was genuine. And it made you wonder how the Celtics could possibly let this cocksure Kentucky kid potentially walk.
Of course, they couldn't.
Here's the deal
With the help of a deadline extension from the NBA, the Celtics and Rondo finally agreed to a new deal over the weekend. It's believed to be worth $55 million over five years, making Rondo the seventh-highest paid point guard in the league.
And that's about right, isn't it? Rondo finally gets his money, his respect. Acknowledgement that he is one of the big boys. But he's not the big boy. Not yet.
His $11 million a season is still not top point guard money (Gilbert Arenas will earn $16 million this season), so there remains room for improvement. There is still a level for Rondo to shoot for, which is more important than you think.
For whatever reason, Rondo responds to the old chip-on-the-shoulder theory. Coming out of Kentucky, critics argued that he couldn't shoot. And Rondo has worked hard to shut them up.
Look at his best games and then consider the matchups. Deron Williams. Steve Nash. Derrick Rose in the playoffs last year. Rondo has always been on a mission to prove he belongs in their company. And surely his play suggests that he does.
Yet the Celtics were publicly leery of Rondo's leadership qualities. At just 23 years old, he can be quiet and even withdrawn in a locker room full of overpowering veteran personalities. Privately, his teammates always respected his potential but questioned his persona. That's why Ainge was so critical of Rondo this summer. Clearly, the kid wanted the cash. But Danny needed to see a sign that Rondo wanted more.
So there the two were on media day in September, Ainge crowded by reporters on one end of the Celtics' practice court in Waltham, Mass., and Rondo at the other, answering questions in between long glances at Ainge.
Rondo was told Ainge had just said that he wanted him to run point for the Celtics for the next 10 years.
"I want to be where I'm wanted," Rondo fired back.
He had arrived in camp looking like an older, more mature Rondo. He had added a solid 12 pounds to his slight frame, an indication that he had finally found his way into the weight room he so famously feared (he used to worry that lifting weights would compromise his quickness).
All signs indicated that Rondo had gotten the message. Then, in the season opener, he sent a message of his own. Ten assists to just two turnovers. Three big steals. And he even learned from his weakest moment — letting LeBron James catch him from behind in transition. On another break later in the game, Rondo made sure to just lay it in rather than dunk it.
It was obvious the Celtics had to pay the kid. Reading Ainge that night, you got the feeling he knew it, too.
You've been Rondo'd
By now you've seen the Reebok spots, right? C'mon, at least one of your friends has e-mailed you a link to that one with Dee Brown as a dentist, yanking a guy's tooth so fast that his only explanation is that he'd been "Rondo'd."
Nash has been Rondo'd. Rose and the Bulls were Rondo'd through all seven games of their playoff series with the Celtics last spring.
Chris Paul is on that growing list, too.
And Rondo made sure he knew about it.
In the aftermath of the Hornets' loss to the Celtics on Sunday at the TD Garden, Rondo and Paul had to be separated. Reportedly, Paul tried to follow Rondo off the floor, though the Hornets guard has denied accounts that he was headed toward the Celtics' locker room when Boston assistants stopped him.
In a borderline bizarre postgame moment, Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss cautioned reporters waiting to speak with Rondo that "Rajon has requested you not ask anything about Chris Paul now, tomorrow, or any other time."
Across the hall, Paul called Rondo "lucky" to be able to play with All-Stars like Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. He shied from taking any shots at him, though, instead calling him a champion.
For what it's worth, I've had several conversations with Paul about Rondo over the last two seasons. In fact, CP3 always stressed that he made it a point to catch Celtics games on TV to watch Rondo play. He spoke about how tough a matchup Rondo had become, but Paul never seemed to have any perceivable beef with him, beyond basic competition.
In Sunday's second quarter, the two guards were tangled up under the basket, and both were hit with technical fouls. Maybe that led to the postgame war of words. Yahoo Sports reporter Adrian Wojnarowski wrote that Rondo threw his championship status in Paul's face, telling the Hornet, "I've got a ring, and you're never gonna get one."
Maybe it's a reminder that Rondo is still feeling his way up the NBA's point guard ladder, rung by rung. If you spend a few minutes talking to Rondo, it's pretty clear that he longs to be mentioned in the same sentence as the big boys. It's a group he deserves consideration for, and his new Celtics deal fairly reflects that.
But for all of his considerable talent, he's still not at Chris Paul's level. Rajon Rondo is still not a top-five point guard, as his agent has suggested.
Not yet, at least.
