The Milwaukee Bucks have added an assistant coach to their staff who by all accounts possesses a brilliant basketball mind.
Milwaukee enters the 2024-25 season after a disappointing end to 2023-24 in which the Bucks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Indiana Pacers.
Milwaukee’s superstar Giannis Antetokounmpo was kept out of the series due to injury, but there was belief within the Bucks locker room that they had enough talent and experience to advance past the early rounds of the playoffs without Antetokounmpo. That didn't happen.
With Antetokounmpo now healthy again, Milwaukee is hoping that he and Damian Lillard can keep developing chemistry and make a leap during their second season as teammates, not dissimilarly to how the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving took a leap after having spent a calendar year together.
The Bucks have their work cut out for them in a tough Eastern Conference, headlined by the defending champion Boston Celtics.
To help with strategy and game planning heading into the season, Milwaukee has hired a former Celtic point guard to join their coaching staff in a capacity that has not yet been made clear.
That player is 38-year-old Rajon Rondo, who recently called it quits on a playing career that saw Rondo bag two championship rings and four All-Star appearances.
Rondo’s connection to the Bucks is current Milwaukee head coach Doc Rivers, who coached Rondo in Boston.
According to a new report from ESPN’s Baxter Holmes, Rondo has joined Rivers’ coaching staff in Milwaukee.
“Rondo has spent the week with the Bucks as a guest coach for their training camp at UC Irvine, and Rivers told ESPN that Rondo will remain with the team in an unspecified capacity this season,” Holmes said. "You'll see him a lot," Rivers said, per Holmes. "That's all I'll say."
Rivers heaped praise upon Rondo’s basketball mind in speaking with Holmes.
"He's the smartest player I've ever coached -- and not just smart," Rivers said, per Holmes. "He knows when to and when not to say stuff. He's a great team builder. It's just fun, and it's great to have him around. … He knows everybody's plays. I'm telling you, he's a savant.”
Milwaukee will open up the regular season by visiting the new-look Philadelphia 76ers on October 23.
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