Rajon Rondo is a complex person, a dream within a dream within a dream, consisting of layers of architecture that only make perfect sense to him.

We’ve heard rumors of Rondo’s stubbornness, the way he can occasionally be a thumb tack into the side of teammates and coaches. He entered the NBA and immediately wanted things done his way. He butts heads with Doc Rivers. He clashes periodically with the Big Three. He’s unafraid to speak his mind, may or may not have struggled last season while mourning the loss of his friend Kendrick Perkins, plays through injuries that would sideline Vince Carter for his entire career, unofficially leads the NBA in “utterly unselfish and sometimes stupidly unselfish” plays, became a leader among several Hall of Famers, and once in a while throws a water bottle (or an iced tea container, depending on who you trust) at a video screen while assistant coaches point out his flaws during a film session, then continues into a diatribe lacing into his teammates.

He’s about as simple as rocket science, as normal as a blue duck, and as volatile as a volcano. He’s Rajon Rondo, a player who has overcome a crushing flaw, yet a person still working to overcome temperamental issues that have scarred and sometimes threatened to fracture relationships with his closest co-workers.

In a wonderful piece in the Boston Herald, Steve Bulpett unearthed the anecdote I briefly mentioned earlier, the one where Rondo throws a water bottle and destroys a video screen during a film session. It’s a startling description of an event that would normally take place behind closed doors and remain behind closed doors, depicting Rondo as a hothead capable of losing his scruples, verbally attacking his teammates and destroying team property, all in one outburst.

But it was later in the story that I thought the most productive quote came.

“I’m not going to point the fingers on anybody,” Rondo said. “Any relationship problems I have with anybody on the team or anybody on the coaching staff, I have to do better as a player and as a leader. You know, I didn’t ask for this role, but it’s part of it — for one, being a point guard, for two, the way I play. So I just have to embrace it better. Each year I think I’m getting better. I may have my incidents, but each year I think I’ve handled criticism a lot better, I’ve been a lot more patient, and I think I’ve grown. KG actually came up to me and told me he was proud of me at how mature I’ve seemed in the first few days. But it’s not just two days; it’s going to have to be consistent throughout the season. That’s what P (captain Paul Pierce) told me the other day: You can’t pick and choose when you’re going to be a leader. You have to do it every day. That’s the biggest thing for me. It’s not just in the games, it’s in practice and in shootarounds in the morning. . . . I’m the first guy out there that people are looking at. You know, I’ve got the ball, so if I’m going to lollygag, then it’s like, OK, well, we’ve got the day off. That can’t be.

“There can’t be any inconsistency about that as far as in my game this year. And there won’t be, because I’ve embraced that role. All eyes are on me, and I’m OK with that.”

The symmetry of Paul Pierce telling Rondo he needs to be a consistent leader is perfect. In his younger days, Pierce was a lot like Rondo, a volatile, head-strong young buck not yet willing or able to coalesce with his teammates at all times. He had spats with Doc Rivers. He took bad shots. He almost requested a trade. He wore mocking head bandages to press conferences. He was Boston’s leader and normally well-behaved, but he was also capable of mind-boggling lapses just when it seemed like he had turned the proverbial corner.

Rondo was put in a different situation career-wise than Pierce, but their evolution is eerily similar. Several small steps toward maturation, one giant leap backward, a self-destructive path that simultaneously leaves fans in love and disappointed. Pierce eventually attained the point of complete maturation, but it took years of petty outbursts and occasionally selfish play before he fully committed himself to the team culture.

In the book Shaq wrote this summer, which talked crap about anybody and everybody, the Big Diesel called Pierce Boston’s unquestioned leader, even in a locker room that includes Kevin Garnett. The next step for Rondo is to become the leader Pierce has developed into, to eliminate the occasional mental lapses and temper tantrums and put aside all the bullshit that clouds his relationships with teammates and coaches.

Rondo is a uniquely talented individual, a point guard who can create assists out of dust, an unselfish passing demigod who should be a dream to play with, and now he must follow Pierce’s lead. He must continue his development into a full-time leader, because really, that’s the only true kind of leader there is.

Paul Pierce is drawing interest from Spanish teams Unicaja and CAI Zaragoza, according to a Spanish report. The English translation (which is admittedly choppy) follows. (Marca.com)

Paul Pierce, MVP of the NBA Finals in 2008 against the Celtics and one of the biggest stars of the Celtics today, is in the orbit of Unicaja Malaga and Zaragoza CAI has been advanced by Paco Garcia Charity Radio Marca. …

‘The Truth’, which has been one of the top leaders to dissolve the players’ union and sue the owners for violating antitrust law, has expressed its agents desire to play overseas during the lockout and has been interested especially to play in Spain.

It’s interesting that the report states Pierce wants to play overseas during the lockout. I hadn’t seen that yet, and I’m not positive it’s reliable. But the NBA lockout threatens to wipe out the entire season, and that means players want to A) play and B) get paid.

I’m torn about whether I want Boston Celtics players to take their talents overseas. On one hand, they’d stay in shape. They’d presumably enjoy themselves. Living abroad sounds cool. On the other, what if they injure themselves? There’s real risk involved.

It’s one thing when Avery Bradley signs in Israel. It’s another when Paul Pierce contemplates moving to Spain. The Celtics can withstand an injury to one of those players. I bet you know who.

Glen Davis complained that he was not educated enough about the NBA lockout developments, which begs the question: Glen, why didn’t you educate yourself?

“I don’t think I’ve been kept in the loop as far as what’s going on and how things are going on,” he said. “I want to be kept in the loop, but when I say that, they say, well, come to the meetings.

“It’s not just Paul making that decision. It’s also Derek (Fisher) and Billy Hunter. I talk to players, but my friends are guys like Paul and (Kevin Garnett) — guys who are in a different stage of their careers from me.

“I don’t talk to a lot of the guys who are more in my stage, like Carl Landry and DeJuan Blair.”

I was prepared to suggest that Davis should have sought information more actively, but Zach Lowe beat me to it. (Sports Illustrated)

The first part of that quote – about coming to meetings — should take its place in the Lockout Quote Pantheon. “They say, well, come to meetings.” And? Did you go? Did you find out where and when the regional meetings were? Did you call your union representative (Pierce) to get that information? Heck, did you read guys like Ken Berger of CBS Sports, sharp minds who published just about every nuance of these talks along the way?

And why didn’t you contact Carl Landry or DeJuan Blair or any other young player trying to cement his place in the league? They aren’t hard to find.

Some very intelligent people have wondered why the union failed to put the latest proposal to a vote. The thinking goes that the union’s membership deserved to vote on a proposal that might have been the best the union will get.

But Davis’ thoughts shed some light on why letting the membership vote on a proposal might not have been the brightest idea. Billy Hunter, Derek Fisher and a handful of others have been involved in the negotiations since day one. They have educated themselves on all the legal, system, and economic issues. They decided the proposal was unacceptable, and it’s their job to lead the union the way they see fit. Putting the proposal to a vote would have allowed uninformed players to vote on important decisions.

Maybe Hunter and Fisher are misguided, and the union should have at least voted on the latest offer before dropping the disclaimer of interest bomb. But putting power into the hands of the (largely) uninformed membership would have been dangerous.

Now that a missed season is a real possibility, the lockout could end the Boston Celtics’ Big Three era. It could potentially threaten Kevin Garnett’s career. It could mean that Ray Allen is 37 years old when the NBA returns, and Paul Pierce might be 35. And if all that’s not enough, a missed season could result in Danny Ainge scrambling to fill 12 roster spots for 2012-13. I don’t mean to exude pessimism, but these are now realistic possibilities.

“There will ultimately be a new collective bargaining agreement,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said after hearing of the NBPA’s decision. “But the 2011-2012 season is now in jeopardy.”

And for veteran teams that have few bodies under contract right now, like the Celtics, they could very well fall under the category of collateral damage associated with this lockout if it wipes out the entire season.

Beyond 2011-12, the Celtics only have three players under contract – Paul Pierce, Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley.

So if the season were to be wiped out entirely, the C’s would have as many as 12 roster spots to fill.

The Miami Heat certainly didn’t complain after needing to fill 12 roster spots last summer. But there were extenuating circumstances. Two of the game’s biggest stars (and Chris Bosh) were all free agents at the same time. The trio decided to combine their powers. It was a combination of luck, circumstance and the persuasive powers of Pat Riley (not to mention the persuasive powers of South Beach).

The Celtics wouldn’t be so lucky. Even if the free agency classes of 2011 and 2012 were combined, which is what would happen after a missed season, there’s STILL not the type of star power to rebuild on the fly. Dwight Howard, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are the only superstars on the market. Two of them play Rondo’s position. The other, Howard, will have many other realistic suitors besides the Celtics. If Howard did sign with the Celtics, the Celtics could presumably re-sign Allen and Garnett to smaller contracts and join them with Pierce, Rondo and Howard to form an awesome starting five. But that’s assuming Howard signs. And the Boston Celtics historically don’t land high-profile free agents.

More likely, the Celtics are looking at a lengthy rebuilding process after the (rumored) 2011-12 season. The thought is sobering, but it’s reality. The final year of the Big Three era is in jeopardy, and the future is unknown.

For every NBA team, the lockout sucks. For the Boston Celtics, it sucks even more.*

*For more on “The Art of the Highly Sophisticated Lead,” I suggest calling me to set up a lesson.

Age means a lost season will affect Boston more than other teams. Age means we could be losing the end of Kevin Garnett’s career. Age means we could be losing the final season Ray Allen played at an All-Star level. Age means Paul Pierce could be a step slower when we see him next.

But according to Glen Davis, the Big Three don’t age like everyone else.

“In a way the window may be closing, but nobody knows their bodies better than those guys,” Rondo said recently. “I’m sure they’ll be ready to go.”

Davis, too, has faith.

“That’s a whole year they could miss,” he said. “That’s time gone, whether you’re running or standing still.

“But when you think about who we have on this team, you know they won’t get out of shape. Look at Ray Allen. I think he has three more years in this league, anyway. Kevin, too. I think his body can hold up. We’re really blessed on this team with our Big Three. They’re really different than a lot of other guys.”

Yes, the Big Three stay in great shape. They’re all professionals. But Ray Allen is 36 years old. Kevin Garnett is 35. Paul Pierce is 34. The lockout may not be robbing us of their last days, but it’s robbing us.

The NBA players union is ready to decertify, and could begin the process as early as Friday. If the players do not accept the owners’ revised proposal, expect this negotiation (can I call it a negotiation if neither side really does much negotiating?) to get uglier than the form on Kevin Martin’s jump shot. (CBS Sports)

Another outcome likely will begin to unfold Friday before the union even decides whether to accept the proposal — and would continue to progress regardless of the outcome of next week’s player rep meeting: Agents dissatisfied with the deal the union has negotiated and the intransigence of league negotiators already have more than 200 signatures on decertification petitions which are ready to be submitted to the National Labor Relations Board requesting a vote to dissolve the union, according to a person familiar with the plans.

Such a move would threaten to torpedo whatever support there is among the union membership to approve the owners’ offer, and if it resulted in the players deciding not to vote on the proposal or voting it down, could throw the 2 1-2 year negotiations into the chaos of an anti-trust lawsuit — virtually guaranteeing that the 2011-12 season would be lost.

Regardless of whether the owners moved on many key issues (and reports say they didn’t budge much from their last offer), the players must consider accepting the proposal. Yes, the owners are predatory creatures designed to suck the players’ blood. Yes, the players have lost this “negotiation,” if you can call it that, by a landslide. Yes, free agency might be slightly restricted and the cap would remain hard-ish, or at least a lot harder than it used to. But the alternative is scary: the owners will cut back their offer, causing a long legal battle during which the players will use a tactic that, according to Ken Berger, hasn’t worked in the history of professional sports.

Right now, the players can either pass to Joel Anthony posting up, allow Rajon Rondo to launch a three pointer, or bring Bruce Bowen out of retirement to run an isolation play. In other words, the options are not good.

The NBA negotiations have been like Paul Pierce’s favorite shot — two dribbles forward, one giant leap back — except the negotiations have been hanging in the air for quite a bit longer than Pierce.

Reporters briefed by sources on Wednesday’s negotiations could all agree: progress was made. But whether that progress is enough to stem the prevalent tide of instability remains to be seen. These labor discussions are like Rasheed Wallace — you never know when they might boil over and become completely irrational, all you know is they become irrational far more often than they should. And they almost became irrational yesterday. (NBA.com)

One source told NBA.com that the negotiations remain fragile. “It could blow up at any minute,” he said. “It almost blew up a couple of times [Wednesday], but it didn’t.”

(Here comes the putter toss … wait, he’s restrained himself!)

The players, should this week’s negotiations fail, are reportedly ready to drop two different nuclear bombs. A source told NBA.com the players are ready to move with a disclaimer of interest, and another source told Zach Lowe the players are also ready to file for decertification of the union. Both legal maneuvers could be done simultaneously, since a petition for decertification would take 45-60 days before going to a union-wide vote.

But those options will only move forward if the league does not reach a labor agreement this week. Somewhere in the middle of all the negotiating ruckus, all that fragility, progress was made. Both NBA.com and Adrian Wojnarowski reported there was progress made on three of the five key issues holding back a deal. (NBA.com)

There allegedly was even some progress on three of five issues cited Tuesday by the union as vital to their willingness to consider a 50-50 split (the players received 57 percent in the old CBA and had moved to a formal position of 52.5).

Much of the debate is over restrictions that would be imposed on free-spending teams above the luxury tax threshold, with the union striving to keep them in the marketplace for players and the owners hoping to direct free agents to other rosters.

The problem is, three out of five is equivalent to Dwight Howard’s free throw percentage. The league at least needs to shoot like Ray Allen.

One shot they’ll need to drain is the mid-level exception. Zach Lowe reports the league and union moved closer to an agreement regarding the exception, but cautioned there has been no agreement on the issue.

The league has softened its proposal to take the full mid-level exception from teams that pay the luxury tax and replace it with a miniature mid-level worth half as much, according to one source familiar with the matter. The union has fought against measures that would, in its view, make the luxury tax operate like a hard salary cap and remove the league’s biggest spenders from the free-agent market. The union has argued such measures would redistribute salary away from middle-class veterans and toward superstars, stifle freedom of movement and do little to create competitive balance among teams.

The mid-level exception is a crucial battleground, and the two sides aren’t close to an agreement there despite the league’s move to bat around a variety of potential compromises on Wednesday, per a source. But at least they are talking, and there is incremental progress — enough progress to at least justify another meeting Thursday at noon, according to Stern, union president Derek Fisher and union executive director Billy Hunter.

Can’t I just write about real basketball issues yet?

There are times when Glen Davis makes his nickname seem quite appropriate. Wednesday, Davis again lived up to his Big Baby billing, directing a little hostility at Paul Pierce.

Pierce has been leading the players’ decertification push, but Davis seems disturbed that Pierce hasn’t been in enough contact.

“Paul has emailed me – he called once,” said Davis, sounding disturbed that Pierce has not been in more frequent contact. “He doesn’t advise me on any of this. That’s what my agent does. He’s Paul Pierce – he doesn’t have to talk to me.

“But what (Pierce) basically says is to be prepared for anything. This is something the league has to go through, and we have to wait for things to work out.

“But he hasn’t talked to me about (decertification). He just talks to me about being ready.”

On another note, Davis remains in pole position for the “most likely to eat himself out of a big payday during the NBA lockout” award, named in honor of Shawn Kemp. So at least he can be happy about that.

Disclaimer: I do not hate Glen Davis. I was thoroughly unimpressed by the way he ended last season, like anyone else with two working eyes. But I still enjoy rooting for him, despite his occasional bouts with immaturity (which sometimes lead to 4 a.m. fights with his best friend). If it still sounds like I hate Davis, I don’t. Seriously. No, really.

Paul Pierce indeed led the NBA players’ push for decertification, but he did it with the consent of players union chief Billy Hunter.

Despite being the Celtics’ player representative, Pierce was the only team rep not present at the mandatory union meeting yesterday. ESPN cited sources who said Pierce did not miss the meeting as a boycott.

Pierce’s decertification push has succeeded, or rather, it has advanced to the next step. Hunter said the league garnered enough petition signatures to force a decertification vote, which would take place 45-60 days after the players association officially files the decertification with the National Labor Relations Board — if, that is, the players decide to file the motion. The players are waiting on the results of Wednesday’s negotiations, when David Stern’s ultimatum looms like an approaching tornado. (CBS Sports)

“I think Paul is kind of frustrated with the process,” Hunter said after a news conference in which the players said they were rejecting the league’s latest take-it-or-leave-it proposal. “Paul has been at the bargaining table and he doesn’t feel that we’ve been making any kind of progress. And so he thought that maybe that’s necessary. We don’t have a lot of options and that’s the option Paul was pushing – still is pushing.”

Asked in a small group of reporters if he’s cool with that, Hunter said, “Of course. Listen, I’m cool with Paul and all these guys. I think it’s very important. I’m happy that Paul and the others are involved in the process. That’s always been the problem with athletes, that a lot of stuff is foisted on them and they have no input. Paul has been actively engaged, he understands, he’s been in five or six of our negotiating sessions, he talks to me, and when they had the (decertification) calls, he called and let me know that they were having the calls. And I said, ‘Hey, I’m not at all opposed to you doing that.’ … I endorse what Paul did.”

If nothing else, the players themselves have remained strong during the negotiations. David Stern has been pummeling them with haymakers and ultimatums. Reports have this hardline owner demanding one thing and that hardline owner demanding another. But the players themselves have remained strong. Other than JaVale McGee’s brain fart (vintage McGee), when he told reporters players were ready to fold, then subsequently denied the comments despite video evidence, and a few tweets or text messages here and there, most players seem banded together willing to follow Hunter and Derek Fisher’s lead.

Of course, the players BRI split request has dwindled to 50% down from last year’s 57%, owners haven’t made any concessions whatsoever relative to the prior CBA, and according to Ken Berger the players have already conceded more money ($330 million) for the coming year than the owners claim to have lost last season. So maybe I’m giving the players too much credit.

Wednesday’s negotiations (assuming the two sides meet) are likely to lead to a resolution, or a cloudy future of legal maneuvering and hardline stances. I vote the former, though I wouldn’t bet my (admittedly minuscule) life savings.

Forgive me if I don’t know exactly what’s going on here. Based on my best estimations, David Stern and Derek Fisher catch fire, the Celtics begin arguing on the side of a basketball court, Paul Pierce answers a phone call on the court, Ray Allen writes a few things on a coach’s notepad, the Celtics begin literally taking an ax to some big Chinese symbol, the symbol shatters, Michael Jordan stares through a glass window, Charles Oakley shows up wearing gold chains and hugging some woman, the Celtics shatter another giant Chinese symbol, Michael Jordan gets shot in the head, some baby starts crying, Jordan attempts to save par from a sand bunker, Nick Young drives to the hoop, where he will inevitably shoot a contested shot, Young says he will never wear Jordan shoes again and makes an Elvis Presley reference, Paul George randomly appears out of nowhere, David Stern shakes somebody’s hand, and the Celtics start fighting again.

Whew. Aren’t you glad you have me to translate that video for you? I knew I was good for something.

(h/t Ben Rohrbach, WEEI)