Rajon Rondo on Isaiah Thomas: ‘We don’t hang conference titles’

Former Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo was far from ecstatic to hear Boston would be honoring Isaiah Thomas the next time he returned to the TD Garden this season. So when Rondo was asked about it on Tuesday, he made sure to note that Thomas’s accomplishments were not up to par with what Boston fans are accustomed to.

“What has he done?” Rondo asked, according to The Worcester Telegram & Gazette’s Bill Doyle. When he was told Thomas led the Celtics to the conference finals last season, Rondo replied, “Oh, that’s what we celebrate around here?”

“This is the Boston Celtics. This isn’t the Phoenix Suns,” he continued. “No disrespect to any other organization, but you don’t hang conference titles. Do we hang going to the conference finals? What do we hang here?”

Someone answered Rondo with “title banners.”

“OK cool,” he responded.

Rondo, who now plays for the Pelicans, was the floor general of the 2008 championship Celtics alongside Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen. His Boston team prevented the Lakers from potentially three-peating twice between 1999 and 2010.

Because he helped hang a championship banner in Boston, Rondo’s uniquely qualified to speak on what accomplishments the Celtics should celebrate. Thomas averaged 28.9 points per game last season and led Boston to the East’s No. 1 seed. He played through his sister’s death, a dislodged front tooth and a torn labrum in his hip to lead the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals.

Eventually, Thomas ran out of gas and Boston lost in five games. The Celtics then traded him — hip injury and all — to the Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving.

In his short stint in Boston, Thomas led the Celtics to their best record in six seasons and deepest postseason run since Rondo’s team lost to the Lakers in the Finals in 2010. His contributions to Boston might not be worth Rondo’s approval, but they’re worth something.