BOSTON -- Rajon Rondo needed some advice on how to handle his first trip back to Boston since his trade and, as luck would have it, another former Celtics captain happened to be in Dallas earlier this week, so Rondo huddled with Paul Pierce for some wisdom.
"He just told me to keep blinking when I look up so I don't cry," Rondo said on Friday morning as he met with an overflow crowd of reporters after the Dallas Mavericks' morning shootaround at TD Garden.
Just two weeks after being traded to Dallas, Rondo is back in Boston and bracing himself for an outpouring of emotions that will come when he plays against the team that he spent the first eight-plus seasons of his career with.
Rondo has been on the other sideline as Celtics fans welcomed back heroes from the 2008 title team like Pierce and Kevin Garnett. He knows a video tribute looms during the first TV timeout, and that's when he'll utilize Pierce's advice.
Rondo was his typical frisky self during Friday's shootaround. He smiled and shook his head when he saw the swarm of media waiting for the team as it arrived, then jokingly tried to position himself behind a scorer's table before his interview, then hopped up on top as the pack of cameras and microphones converged.
During a seven-plus-minute chat with reporters, Rondo recapped the surprise of the early-season trade, got nostalgic about his time in Boston and the legacy of the 2008 team, and glowed about the opportunity he has now with the Mavericks.
The Celtics sent Rondo and Dwight Powell to the Mavericks in exchange for Brandan Wright, Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson and a future first-round pick on Dec. 18. Rondo noted that he was taking an afternoon nap and a call from Celtics president of basketball operations Danny Ainge suggested he was on the move after rumors started 24 hours earlier.
"I woke up and I [saw] Danny popped up [on my cell phone], so I was like, 'Oh, s---,'" Rondo said. "That's when it happened. He called me and told me to come out to the facility and it happened."
But Rondo said there's no hard feelings about being traded. He's appreciative of his time in Boston and being dealt to a championship-caliber team.
"I've said it a couple times this past week, I was very grateful to play for a sports organization like the Boston Celtics," Rondo said. "It starts with Danny and [co-owner] Wyc [Grousbeck] believing in me from Day 1 -- [they] traded for me. And then, obviously, the way the fans embraced me since I've been here since Day 1, it's a very humbling experience. I'm glad I got to experience this in my life."
Later he added: "It's a great situation [in Dallas], and Danny and Wyc could have sent me anywhere. But I think it showed the class these guys have to send me to an organization where, I've done a lot for this organization, and they didn't just throw me on the back burner, they put me in a situation where I can still excel and obviously win a championship with this caliber team. I'm grateful for that situation."
This is a bit of a 2008 title team reunion week for Rondo. On Sunday, he saw Kendrick Perkins with the Oklahoma City Thunder; Pierce visited on Tuesday with the Washington Wizards; and a date with Kevin Garnett and the Brooklyn Nets looms on Monday.
But it's this stop in Boston that will tug at his heartstrings the most and he's appreciative of being part of the championship legacy.
"We won a championship," Rondo said. "We brought a championship back to Boston. I think it was [22] years and it was a special group of guys. I can't wait for 20 years from now when they call us all back and we can come back and be embraced again by the fans."
Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle, who helped Boston win that 1986 title, said he knows how emotional it can be to return to this city.
"When you're talking about a guy like Rondo, who has been a major player on a championship team, there's a very strong bond," Carlisle said. "I remember coming back here with [Larry] Bird and Bird was coming back in here as a coach for the first time. And he had been removed from the game for several years and it was one of the most emotional scenes I'd ever experienced in basketball.
"Tonight will be similar for Rondo. The people here really appreciate his uniqueness as a player, his competitiveness, the fact that he is a huge part of a championship. The thing that I've been most impressed with him is his humility and his motivation to win. And those are the kind of things that a coach is always going to love."