NBA champion Rajon Rondo emerges as a surprise candidate for the New Orleans Pelicans' head coach role.
A somewhat surprising new name has entered the running to become the next head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans: 16-year NBA veteran Rajon Rondo. Not an expected candidate, but Rondo is a basketball savant and certainly makes sense as someone to consider.
NBA insider Marc Stein reported the team's interest (subscription required) in the former point guard on Sunday, and Rondo has supposedly already been interviewed. This is the first big shift in the coaching search since the season ended.
The Pelicans have said they're going to do their due diligence, and the search is expanding out to someone who retired from the game in 2022 and has never really been a coach.
There are actually a couple of recent examples that set some precedent for the move. Steve Nash was a long-time, respected point guard who retired in 2015 and became the head coach of the Brooklyn Nets in 2020. The only real experience he had was in a consulting job with the Golden State Warriors, similar to what Rondo has done with the Milwaukee Bucks.
JJ Redick famously jumped straight from podcasting to becoming a head coach, thanks to his widely respected basketball mind. He's done a great job with the Los Angeles Lakers. He was away from the game for the same amount of time that Rondo has been, and had even less coaching experience.
This would be a massive swing by Joe Dumars and co., but one that would be very exciting. This coaching search has just become more interesting.