Boston Celtics star Rajon Rondo insists he will return this season and won't follow the Derrick Rose path, but he declined to give a timetable. Saying he's 87 percent recovered from knee surgery, Rondo wants to accomplish one feat before returning.
Rondo continues to rehab from his ACL surgery, but he's uncertain of when he'll return. There's speculation the point guard may not be ready to play until after December, the Boston Globe reports.
Rondo, however, is continuing to make progress in his rehabilitation and believes he'll soon be cleared to participate in contact drills.
"...I don't think contact will be too far from now," said Rondo, who recently was fitted for a knee brace. "I'm just waiting to get cleared by my doctor."
The four-time All-Star estimates his knee is about 87 percent back to full health. Rondo doesn't have a specific date set for his return, but he admitted there's one thing he wants to be able to do before stepping back into games.
"Whenever I'm able to jump off my right leg and probably dunk, that's when I think I'll be ready to play," he said.
Rondo added: "If they want me to ease into it - it's going to be hard to tell me to ease into something. Once I get back out there, I want to go full speed. I don't want any limitation. That's when I'll return, when I'm able to do that."
Similar to Rose, Rondo isn't going to play before he's ready.
"I'll know when it's right," he said. "Everybody is different, each injury is different ... For me, when I come back, I won't come back unless I know I'm myself again."
