Rajon Rondo's battle with Brad Stevens points toward a future coaching job

Rajon Rondo recently made an appearance on JJ Redick's 'Old Man & The Three' podcast. During the show, the former Boston Celtics champion discussed his penchant for trying to 'outcoach' opposing coaches. 

"With me when I'm playing a game, I'm not necessarily playing against a player," Rondo said. "A great example is when I was going against the Celtics, when I played for the Bulls, my whole mindset, this entire series was to beat Brad Stevens ... Because I'm thinking my mindset is thinking, how can I beat the coach? How can I outcoach the coach? I feel like I have the power and I'm involved in the game, so have more of an influence and an impact that I can make versus a coach yelling from the sidelines." 

The series that Rondo is discussing is from the 2017 playoffs, where the Chicago Bulls went two games ahead of Boston before the former Celtics suffered an injury. Many Celtics fans believe that if Rondo never got hurt, Chicago would probably have won that series.

Throughout his career, Rondo developed a reputation for being a cerebral point guard. Openly admitting that he's trying to outthink the opposing coach is further proof of Rondo's high basketball IQ. Most importantly, that desire to outthink his opponent is what could lead to the former champion becoming a head coach once his playing career is over.

Should Rondo choose to enter the coaching ranks, he would be wise to follow in the footsteps of Ime Udoka and Chauncey Billups. Both were former NBA players who learned the ropes under elite coaches before taking the next step. It may be years until we see Rondo barking out instructions to his team; however, it's clear that taking that next step is the logical evolution of an exceptional on-court career.