Report: Rajon Rondo pleads guilty to gun charge, granted probation

Rajon Rondo cut a deal with prosecutors after pleading guilty in Indiana to a misdemeanor count of unlawfully carrying a handgun, per TMZ Sports.

In exchange, Rondo’s other two charges, possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia, were dropped. In the deal, Rondo will spend time on probation rather than spending the 180 days in jail in his original sentence.

The former NBA star won’t serve any time behind bars, so long as he stays out of trouble. He last played in the league during the 2021-22 season.

Rondo is a four-time All-Star and a two-time NBA champion.

Rondo’s name made headlines back in the spring when his alam mater, Kentucky, had a head coaching vacancy. This came on the heels of John Calipari leaving for Arkansas on a five-year deal.

Rondo is an alum of the program and eventually won an NBA title with the Boston Celtics (2008) and Los Angeles Lakers (2020) during his 17 year career in the NBA.

Rondo, who played for Kentucky for three years until he was a first round pick in 2006, said before he wanted to get into coaching.

“I think the perfect hire for Kentucky at this point would be Rajon,” NBA star DeMarcus Cousins said on the Bully Ball podcast. “I honestly think Rajon would be the perfect guy for this situation. Obviously he’s a Kentucky kid. He played, he’s an alumni. But he understands both sides like probably better than anybody else ever will.

“And I think putting Rajon in that position, be’s gonna be a great energy moving forward. He’s great at creating the standard. He’s great at leading the ship. I don’t think there’s a better leader to lead Kentucky out of this spot than Rajon Rondo.”

Ironically, Rondo and Cousins debated Calipari’s future near the end of March, well before the coach took the Arkansas gig.

“How many ‘chips Cal got?” Rondo said. “It’s been over a decade. It’s about, ‘what have you done for me lately?’ …It’s the University of Kentucky. It’s been one of the greatest colleges of all-time way before Cal got there. He didn’t just come there and set the standard that it’s winning basketball now. It’s been that. …I never said ‘fire Cal.’ All I’m saying is he has to get the guys to buy in.”