Despite dropping the third game of the season in Cleveland, Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo managed to appreciate something he saw when he stepped on the team plane back to Milwaukee.
Ryan Rollins, thrust into the role as the team’s starting point guard following an injury to Kevin Porter Jr. in the first game of the season, was sitting next to Rajon Rondo watching film. Rondo, a two-time NBA champion and four-time All-Star point guard, served as a coaching associate with the Bucks this season, and according to Antetokounmpo, Rollins sat with Rondo for the entirety of that flight. They talked through what Rondo was seeing on the floor in those clips.
Advertisement
“I said to (Rollins), ‘If you really want to improve and get to the next level, you have the best example. Like, you have the blueprint in front of you, which is Rondo,’” Antetokounmpo told reporters in October. “Just talk to him every single day. He’s one of the best, (a) Hall of Famer.
“What does he see? How can you navigate this pick-and-roll? How can you navigate this defensively? How can you put your team in a better position? Just keep on watching film and talking to him.”
In his first season as a permanent starter, Rollins took a huge leap forward, averaging 17.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 32.1 minutes per game. Rollins’ improvement started by working with the team’s player development group, specifically his on-court workout with Bucks player development and video assistant Donovan Ham, but this season, it was augmented by a steadier hand from Rondo, who was given the chance to be on the bench during games in his second season as part of the coaching staff of former head coach Doc Rivers.
Having Rondo on the bench for some of the team’s games meant having a direct resource to provide Rollins with the insight needed to get through tough times or experiences he hadn’t gone through before.
“I just had the ball in my hands a lot, and I had a couple turnovers, and then all the coaches started to chirp at me,” Rollins told The Athletic about a key moment with Rondo early in the season. “Everybody was saying something, so I got a little frustrated and I kind of flashed out a little bit, like, why’s everybody coming to talk to me?
“(Rondo) was there. He just kind of put it into perspective for me. Yeah, you got the ball more now, so it comes with the territory. It’s part of what you’re trying to become and what you’re trying to do, so even if you’re not really receptive to it in that moment, you still gotta accept it for what it is, because that is what comes with it now.
“He was like, ‘I’m here to help you.’”
After Rondo served two seasons as a coaching associate, some NBA teams are wondering if he is prepared to make a Rollins-like jump himself and become a head coach. The New Orleans Pelicans have been the most aggressive in that pursuit, as team sources confirmed to The Athletic that Rondo interviewed for their open head coaching job last week and remains in consideration for the position.
Advertisement
“I know I can do it now,” Rondo told The Athletic in March when asked if he thought he was ready to be a head coach. “I have the discipline, preparation and, obviously, it’s about having the right people around you. I feel like I know who I am, and I know the people I can trust in this business for the most part.
“I’ve had a lot of great mentors, a lot of people rooting for me. I definitely think I’ll be ready to go.”
Rivers sits atop the list of those mentors and people rooting for Rondo, partially because he was the one who pushed for his former point guard to start giving back to the game as a coach. Rondo, whom Rivers regularly refers to as “the smartest player” he’s ever coached, played for Rivers for the first seven years of his career in Boston. The two helped the Celtics win an NBA championship in 2008.
Future head coach loading? 🔋
Rajon Rondo has been continuing to impress in his expanded role with the Doc Rivers and the Bucks 👀 pic.twitter.com/3t2VTuiEOn
— KG: Certified (@kg_certified) November 13, 2025
Rivers continuously credits Pat Riley — who coached him when he played for the New York Knicks in the early 1990s — for embracing coaching as his post-playing career. Nearly three decades later, Rivers did the same thing with Rondo when he attended his former point guard’s wedding in the summer of 2024 and offered him the chance to work with the Bucks.
{“endpoint”:”https://api-prd-nyt.theathletic.com/graphql”}
Rondo knew what he would be forced to give up to become a full-time assistant coach, and he pushed back at the idea to spend more time with his two children. He watched Rivers miss his son Austin’s high school basketball games because of the rigorous travel required with an 82-game NBA schedule.
But Rivers worked out a schedule with Rondo to be around the Bucks during the 2024-25 season. After their first season together, the duo found a way to create an even larger role for Rondo in his second season in Milwaukee.
Advertisement
“My daughter just went away to college, first year playing volleyball at Alabama, and then my son is starting to play high school basketball, so I just want to continue to invest in them,” Rondo told The Athletic last November. “Obviously, if an opportunity presents itself, I have to go back to the drawing board and figure some things out, but right now, I love what I’m doing and Doc allowing me to have the freedom.
“We went over our schedules at the start of the season, games I’d be able to come and games I couldn’t. So, it’s been welcoming, and it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve just been learning as much as possible.”
In his second season with the Bucks, Rondo was given the opportunity to be far more active by working out a role that allowed him to sit behind the bench with the team when he attended games — rather than sitting in the stands as he did in his first season. That improved access gave Rondo the chance to be a part of the action as it unfolded and have conversations with players and coaches on the bench.
“Nothing beats being able to be around the game, having my input on the game, being behind the bench and being around the coaching staff,” Rondo said. “There’s a lot of great knowledge, a lot of great coaches, over 100 years of coaching experience in that locker room.
“For me, it’s like, what I’m doing for Ryan, I’m trying to get those coaches to do for me. I’m a sponge. I’m taking notes. I’m asking a lot of questions, and I’m sitting quietly observing.”
While the Bucks did not have as much success as they wanted this season, Rondo benefited from the tutelage. Outside of Rivers, who had 27 years of head coaching experience, assistants Darvin Ham and Dave Joerger are former NBA head coaches. Rex Kalamian has been an assistant coach for more than 30 years, and Greg Buckner has been a highly regarded assistant for the last decade.
With so many experienced coaches around him, Rondo was given a spectacular opportunity in Milwaukee to observe how to do the job, but he also asked questions.
Advertisement
“He has a trait that every aspiring, currently active or former coach should have, and that’s being inquisitive,” Darvin Ham told The Athletic. “He’s very curious to learn the process of things, what triggers certain actions, what triggers certain reactions on both sides of the ball.
“He knows the game, but the art of trying to teach it so the players can comprehend it, that’s the part he’s picking up. The preparation process, how it goes from paper to film to actual on-court methods to after game time, and then, boom, rinse and repeat, so to speak. He’s been great, man. He’s just very intuitive, really asking questions.”
Darvin Ham pointed to a sit-down conversation he had with Rondo and Buckner in Chicago during the first half of the season. Ham encouraged both to ask any questions they might have about being a head coach in the NBA. It was a great example of how Rondo leaned on the coaches to get better and, conversely, how the veteran staff poured into Rondo in his journey to become more prepared.
During that journey, Rivers admitted that one of the things Rondo will have to work through is the frustration of seeing something on the floor his players might not see. Rondo, a three-time league leader in assists, was one of the most gifted manipulators of his era. He effortlessly moved defenders where he wanted them to go to open up teammates for easy looks as a floor general on offense, then read passing lanes for steals on the defensive end.
Those skills were a product of inane anticipation and high-level preparation, but those same traits and abilities might not be a given for other players. That frustration can be too much for some former players attempting to make the transition to coaching, according to Rivers.
“I told him what Magic (Johnson) told me,” Rivers said. “Magic coached the Lakers that one year (1994), and we were out to dinner, and he told me, ‘I can’t do it. I just keep seeing things that they don’t see, and I can’t understand why they don’t see it.’
“I said, ‘Magic, only you see it. You’re that far ahead, so you’re going to go crazy,’ and he quit. I think Rondo will be better equipped at that, and I think (the time with Milwaukee) has really helped him.”
Advertisement
Ultimately, Rivers didn’t foresee that being a problem for Rondo, as he has exhibited patience in his two seasons with the Bucks. Rollins said that while there were times when Rondo sometimes saw something differently, the young coach was always able to eventually explain it. He would show how Rollins could manipulate the defense differently the next time he encountered a situation.
“That’s what coaching is to me,” Rondo said. “That’s the definition of coaching, being able to articulate and explain things and obviously get the players to go out and execute. That’s the challenge we face as coaches every day, and I don’t mind the challenge.
“If they’re not getting it, obviously, I gotta make some adjustments. But other than that, it’s a fun thing to do, and I always love teaching the game.”
As Rondo continues to grow as a coach, Rivers said that Rondo has taken special interest in getting a better understanding of how to navigate the interpersonal dynamics of coaching. Keeping the locker room focused on achieving goals while also being able to discipline players or adjust playing times or roles of certain players can be incredibly difficult for some coaches.
“The biggest elements of coaching are your patience and persistence, and you gotta pick your spots,” Ham said about his explanation of being an NBA coach to Rondo. “It’s not college. You’re not dealing with amateurs. You can’t come in every day and scream your way through practices.
“You have to slow down, really articulate each and every detail of what you’re trying to extract from your group on both sides of the ball.”
So, after a crash course on NBA head coaching in the last two years, does Rondo’s leading mentor think his protege has picked up the skills needed to do the job?
“I think he’s ready,” Rivers said. “If I was running a team, I would consider him, for sure.”