Speaking with the media on Friday after the Pelicans jumped out to a 3-0 lead in their first-round playoff series against the Portland Trail Blazers, Rondo indicated that New Orleans had the best “Big Three” in the NBA at one point.
“At a point, right before Cuz [DeMarcus Cousins] got hurt, that was my argument. Hands down, we had the best Big 3,” said the former All-Star, according to Will Guillory of NOLA.com.
There’s obviously a lot to unpack here. For one, Rondo, who has never been known for a small ego, seems to be referring to himself, Cousins, and Anthony Davis as said Big Three, leaving backcourt mate Jrue Holiday out of the mix. Could that be at all retributive given that Rondo was never really seen as part of the Boston Celtics’ Big Three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Kevin Garnett?
For another, does Rondo actually have a point? The Golden State Warriors are more of a Big Four, the Cleveland Cavaliers have struggled to complement the LeBron James-Kevin Love pair ever since the Kyrie Irving trade, and other dynamic duos around the league (DeMar DeRozan-Kyle Lowry, Damian Lillard-CJ McCollum, Chris Paul-James Harden, Joel Embiid-Ben Simmons, etc.) lack a unanimous third cog. So buying into Rondo’s argument for a second, would New Orleans’ only legitimate competition really be Oklahoma City’s trio of Russell Westbrook, Paul George, and Carmelo Anthony?
Hypotheticals aside, the Pelicans are playing tremendous basketball right now, even without Cousins. Thus, you can decide if Rondo’s comment is fair game or simply a Stephen Curry-esque bad take on the idea of a Big Three.
