LeBron James gives his flowers to former teammate who formed Celtics 'big four' in iconic rivalry

During LeBron James' first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, the team established a notable rivalry with the Boston Celtics. While many people think of the team as the "big three Celtics" while discussing Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen, James quickly gave Rajon Rondo his flowers during an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" this week.

The way he sees things, people who use the term "big three" when discussing the 2008 Celtics championship team are understating the importance of Rondo, who helped make the team what it was.

Rondo began his career with Boston, helping to lead the team to a title in his second year. Despite being just a second-year player, Rondo averaged 10.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1.7 steals in 29.9 minutes.

Come playoff time, Rondo took his game to the next level, improving his assist numbers and seeing an uptick in his playing time.

Given what he brought to the Celtics championship team on both ends of the floor, LeBron James shouted out his former Lakers teammate on Wednesday:

"Everybody talk about the big three, but everybody always decides that for some odd reason, that Rondo wasn't as great as Rondo was," James said. "It's always just the big three. ... They say the big three, but f*****g Rondo was a dog. ... He made it all work with those guys."

Looking back at the time Rajon Rondo gave LeBron James his flowers

While LeBron James shouted out Rajon Rondo on "The Pat McAfee Show," this isn't the first time the two former teammates have spoken highly of one another.

After the two won a title together with the LA Lakers during the 2019-20 season, Rondo wound up retiring just two years later.

Throughout his career, Rondo shared the floor with some all-time greats, from James and the Celtics' big three to players like Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade.

While he and LeBron James were involved in some fierce battles before they became teammates, Rondo told Draymond Green and Baron Davis on "The Draymond Green Show" in November that he and James always had respect for one another:

"It was always a hell of a line of respect that we had for each other," Rondo said. "I've never seen nobody take care of their body like him... He attacks the weight room the way he attacks his on-court off-the-court workouts... He's arguably the greatest player of all time."

Although the two have wildly different builds, the pair have been dubbed two of the highest IQ players in NBA history.

In the case of Rondo, his ability to facilitate an offense while anchoring a defense through his vocal leadership style and deep knowledge of the opposing team's offensive schemes proved invaluable throughout his career.

In the case of James, his resume and skill on both ends of the court continue to speak for themselves even in year 22.