Before moving to the Los Angeles Lakers, Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans looked to stitch something special. And in 2018, it hit its peak. The combination of two bigs, AD and DeMarcus Cousins, was overwhelming for opponents. Defensively, Jrue Holiday and Rajon Rondo haunted the backcourt with their basketball savvy. With Alvin Gentry at the helm, this team looked like genuine contenders. Their only enemy, though, was internal conflict aside from injuries.

Holiday recently appeared on Podcast P with Paul George and gave some interesting inside scoop about his year with the Pelicans. With Rondo at the helm, the legendary floor general had a condensed role. So, he used his time off to dive into his coaching instincts. But the degree of control created a clash of “egos,” not between players, but there was friction between Rondo and the coaching staff.

“I think coaches have egos as well. And sometimes when you have a player that is just as smart or smarter than the coach or has a different philosophy to the game than you, that creates conflict,” Holiday revealed.

Rajon Rondo, in hopes of creating harmony between their unique big-man duo, often took over the drawing board in games. Furthermore, he also imposed his presence as the strategic leader in practices. It helped, to a certain degree. He manipulated Cousins into becoming an all-around threat while Davis became the offense’s focal point. It came at a price however, the coaching staff didn’t appreciate the two-time champion being the active decision-maker.

The only man who appreciated was Gentry, who Holiday describes as “one of the most chill, laid-back coaches”. But there was one time even he showed resistance to Rajon Rondo. Holiday recalled a time the point guard called the whole team for practice. The catch? No coach was on the floor with them.

“There was a time when Rondo just called everybody in for practice and no coaches came. And we ran through practice without coaches. Rondo ran the whole practice as he is playing. Putting plays bro everything. And I was like I have never seen this before,” Holiday marveled.

If not for injuries, Rondo nearly had the formula figured out. It also convinced Holiday of one thing, “If he ever becomes a coach bro, I’d love to see it.”

Rajon Rondo saw a championship ceiling with Anthony Davis

With Rondo taking more control on the coaching side, he realized how he could absolutely unlock the Pelicans that season. In particular, the trio between Holiday, Anthony Davis, and DeMarcus Cousins. In the 42 games they played together, the Pelicans won 24. But the more they played together, the better the team began to look.

Rondo spoke about his stint with Draymond Green on his podcast. Not only did he embrace the coaching role, but he also made a bold prediction about a healthy Pelicans. If not for Cousins’ season-ending ACL injury, Rondo felt the Kevin Durant-led Bayside could have faltered.

“If I had Cuz, you know what I mean? That’s why I feel we would have got y’all because we were bigger than y’all. So I’m trying to go through KD, trying to go through everybody,” he said on The Draymond Green Show.

Even without their second-leading scorer, the Pelicans swept Portland in the first round that year. However, they didn’t have the firepower to match the Warriors’ star-laden lineups. That season, however, did help Rondo realize his passion for coaching. Most recently, he joined Doc Rivers in Milwaukee to get more insight into what it takes to be a head coach of a team.

While there, he earned the praise of Giannis Antetokounmpo, who felt “having him around is incredible”. Still, in order to spend some time with the family, the Celtics legend did state he would take a year to fully commit. Once that horizon passes, one of the great basketball minds might be back in the league, this time as an official head coach rather than a player-coach as he was with the Pelicans.