LeBron James has nothing but praise for newly retired former teammate

Star point guard Rajon Rondo has officially retired from the NBA.

Rondo played 16 seasons in the NBA, spending most of his career with the Boston Celtics. However, he made brief stops with the Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings, Chicago Bulls, New Orleans Pelicans, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, and Cleveland Cavaliers.

During his time with the Lakers, he played with LeBron James and even won a championship with the future Hall-of-Famer in 2020. Rondo was a four-time All-Star, a steal champion, an All-NBA team selection, a four-time All-Defensive team selection, three-time assists champion, All-Rookie team selection, and two-time NBA champion.

LeBron learned of his former teammate's retirement on Tuesday night and discussed it with the media.

"One of the best players I ever played with," said James. "Dude always talked about if he ever teamed up with me, he knew we could win a championship, and we did that."

LeBron praises Radjon Rondo, reminisces about title run

Rondo was well past his prime by the time he joined LeBron on the Lakers. But he still was a key contributor to the championship squad, averaging 7.1 points per game and five assists per game as a role player. He also shot 41.8 percent from the field and 32.8 percent from 3-point range.

But it's clear that James appreciates the time he got to spend with Rondo during the latter portion of the point guard's career. As LeBron alluded to, the two aspired to win a championship together and they accomplished just that, all while the world was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rondo appeared in 48 games that season.

After leaving the Lakers and joining the Hawks and later the Clippers, Rondo returned to the Lakers for the 2021-22 season. He played in 18 games before joining the Cavs for his final 21 games. Rondo hadn't played in the NBA since then.

Rondo had a solid career and even managed to play alongside other greats such as Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Anthony Davis, Dwight Howard, and Kevin Garnett in addition to LeBron.