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Make Connections Many young athletes look up to more successful ones. Growing up, one of Rajon’s favorite athletes was Brett Favre. Brett was a football player who spent most of his career as a quarterback for the Green Bay Packers. Rajon found an idol in Brett, even though football and basketball are two very different sports. He models his game after his childhood idol to this day.

and even with learning how to ride a bicycle. Rajon refused to use training wheels, be- cause he believed they would slow him down. “He was determined not to be left behind,” William said in an interview. “By the end of the day, he’d learned how to ride the bike on his own.” Rajon spent a lot of time with his older brother. A few of their favorite activities in- cluded going to the arcade, racing their bikes around town, and playing basketball in the backyard. When the Rondo brothers were old enough, they started playing team sports at school. William played football in high school and college. Rajon followed in his brother’s footsteps and played football as well. “He was a pretty good quarterback growing up. He taught me everything I knew,” Rajon said in an interview with Boston magazine. Amber taught William and Rajon the importance of friendly competition. They were brothers before they were opponents. Any teasing between them was all in good fun. It didn’t matter if they were playing football on a field, shooting hoops in the backyard, or playing card games on the porch. Rajon always wanted to win. If he didn’t win the first time, he demanded a rematch. The rematches wouldn’t stop until Rajon finally won a game. This drive to succeed helped Rajon rise to the top as a basketball player.

Research Project This chapter mentioned that it’s important for basketball players to be tall. Ra- jon certainly f its this description; he’s six feet one inch tall, well over the average height for men. Go online and look up the average male height in the United States. Now, f ind what the average height of an NBA player is. Which is taller? Why is being tall so important for a basketball player?

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