He performed like a quarterback, only on hardwood instead of turf.Rajon Rondo enjoyed a storied NBA career spanning 16 seasons across nine teams, winning a championship with each side of the league’s biggest rivalry in the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. After having officially retired from the Association in 2024 at the age of 38, despite not having suited up for an NBA team since the 2021-22 season, the former point guard appears to have taken up a new sport – Flag Football. As it turns out, he’s pretty good at it. Used to orchestrating the offense back in his playing days, Rondo has seemingly transferred those skills into his quarterback play, so much so that he is reportedly the number one ranked flag football quarterback in the country, per multiple sources. View Tweet: https://twitter.com/LeagueAlerts?ref_src=twsrc%5EtfwHe’s also believed to be pretty handy on the defensive side of the ball, which makes some sense considering he was named to a NBA All-Defensive team four times. Before he was selected with the 21st overall pick in the 2006 NBA Draft – the same draft class that saw Kyle Lowry, LaMarcus Aldridge and JJ Redick enter the league – Rondo was a high school quarterback, making the switch to basketball at the recommendation of his mother, who thought his frame was too skinny for the sport. He would go on to make his name in the NBA for being a phenomenal passer of the basketball with an elite IQ and vision, and is considered one of Boston’s greatest ever point guards.Back in 2012 when a member of the Celtics, then-head coach Doc Rivers called Rondo “our Tom Brady“, which left the former Kentucky Wildcats guard pondering over whether he could indeed make it in the NFL. “I don’t take what those guys do lightly,” said Rondo in 2012. “But I think I could’ve played. I could’ve given it a shot.”“I didn’t think about playing at Kentucky,” the 6-foot-1 star added. “High school days, but not college. When I got to college, it was just one-track minded, which was basketball and getting to the league.”A year later, he also floated the idea of switching to another sport professionally, much like sporting legends Michael Jordan and Bo Jackson did in their careers, but stood pat on never actually going through with it.Rondo has taken up flag football since his retirement from the NBAGettyRondo won with the two most storied franchises in basketball historyAFP“I’ve always wanted to switch another sport professionally,” he told a live chat on NBA.com, via NESN.com, in 2013.“I’m not going to do it. It would probably have to be football. I played football. I’m OK. I’m not going to say that what those guys do is easy and it’s an easy transition. I thought about it a couple years ago, but now that’s past my time.”Active from 2007-22, one of the NBA’s greatest ever floor generals hung up his sneakers for good having averaged almost 30 minutes a game over 957 outings, in which he tallied 9.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals. But the playoffs are where the four-time All-Star really shone. Reaching the post-season 10 times in his career, Rondo played 134 playoff games, averaging 12.5 points shooting at a 44 percent clip, 5.6 rebounds, 8.5 assists and 1.7 steals. His performances during the 2020 shortened ‘bubble’ season were particularly crucial in the Lakers’ pursuit – and eventual win – of championship number 17, with LeBron James and Anthony Davis at the helm. USA Flag Football’s official Instagram posted this meme in a slide of images and video contentIG/ @USAFLAGFBRondo was an integral member of the 2020 Lakers championship-winning rosterGettyHowever, the recent claims that the three-time NBA assists leader is the number one flag football quarterback in the USA are currently unsubstantiated. Nevertheless, that hasn’t stopped the official USA Flag account tagging the 39-year-old in a post, in which they collated some of his viral highlights, as well as some memes. They captioned the post saying: “We would love to see your skills in action.”With flag football being recognised as an Olympic sport from the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games, who is to say that Rondo – who will be 42-years-old by then – cannot lead Team USA‘s gold medal bid as the quarterback?Some fans have expressed how much of a fever dream this possibility could be, with one fan taking to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) to write: “Diming is in his blood no matter the sport.”“Certified Floor general in hoops and on the field. Absolute baller,” a second wrote.“Once a passer, always a passer LFG my guy @RajonRondo,” a third commented.One fan even expressed how much of a fever dream the possibility of Rondo partaking in the Olympics after such a stellar NBA career could be. The fan wrote: “Since the next Olympics will have flag football does this means he can be in the US Team and win a gold medal with them? Insane multi sport / multi event achievement if he can get a ring in NBA, a gold medal in Olympic flag football.”Who knows whether he will even try out or be considered for a position on Team USA, but with someone of Rondo’s athletic ability, it would not be a surprise if he chose to end his sporting career returning back to playing his first love, football. Stay up to date with the latest from the NBA across all platforms – follow our dedicated talkSPORT USA Facebook page and subscribe to our talkSPORT USA YouTube channel for news, exclusive interviews and more.