Celtics' Rajon Rondo has helped 76ers' Nerlens Noel

Philadelphia 76ers’ big man Nerlens Noel is obviously a talent, but we haven’t seen him play in a true NBA game. Noel tore his ACL with the Kentucky Wildcats back in early 2013 and didn’t return to the court until this summer when he participated in both the Orlando Pro Summer League and Las Vegas Pro Summer League, where he was very impressive.

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Noel, who is from Malden, Massachusetts and was a Celtics’ fan, says Celtics’ point guard Rajon Rondo has helped Noel a lot as he’s rehabbed.

“Oh yeah, yeah,” Noel said via James Herbert of CBS Sports. “Definitely, definitely. With all the support and love, certain guys, especially Rajon Rondo — he was definitely the biggest helper through this whole process, he actually gave me his phone number and told me I could hit him up whenever about it. Being from Boston, watching him growing up, and he went through it and he came back as strong as possible, actually before me, so it gave me a lot of confidence, having his good faith.”

Rondo was limited just 30 games while returning from his knee injury. He averaged 11.7 points, 9.8 assists, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game. He shot 40.3% from the field, 28.9% from beyond the arc and 62.7% from the free throw line. In his career, he’s put up 11.1 points, 8.4 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals per game while shooting 47.5% from the floor, 25.2% from three and 62.1% from the free throw line. In Noel’s lone year at Kentucky, he averaged 10.5 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.4 blocks, 2.1 steals and 1.6 assists per game. He shot 59.0% from the field and 52.9% from the free throw line.

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Celtics’ Rajon Rondo has helped 76ers’ Nerlens Noel

By Andrew Melnick | Aug 15, 2014