Rajon Rondo’s relationship with Tyrese Maxey began the way many of the best basketball relationships do: in an almost-empty gym before most people were awake.
Rondo recently reflected on how he first connected with Maxey, recalling an offseason workout in California shortly before Maxey entered the NBA. At the time, Rondo had built a routine around early-morning training sessions, often arriving around 5:30 or 6 a.m. Maxey showed up shortly afterward and immediately noticed that the veteran point guard had beaten him to the gym.
According to Rondo, Maxey asked if he could join the workout.
“Damn, you beat me to the gym,” Maxey told him, according to Rondo. Then came the question: “Do you mind if I come work out with you?”
Rondo’s answer was easy.
“Sh*t, of course, UK alumni.”
The Kentucky connection mattered. Rondo played two seasons for the Wildcats before entering the NBA, while Maxey spent the 2019-20 season at Kentucky before Philadelphia selected him with the 21st pick in the 2020 NBA Draft. Their shared background helped open the door, but Rondo said he was also eager to help any young point guard genuinely interested in learning from him.
The relationship clearly did not end with that first workout.
Rondo said he is currently in Los Angeles with his son and has spent several consecutive mornings getting up at 5:30 to watch Maxey train. The detail is significant because the same work habits Rondo noticed before Maxey’s rookie season are still part of the guard’s routine years later.
The Philadelphia Inquirer previously documented that Maxey adopted an extreme offseason training schedule before the 2020 draft. After learning Rondo was arriving at the gym around 5:30 a.m., Maxey told trainer Chris Johnson he wanted to be there too. Those sessions became part of a demanding daily routine that included additional lifting and shooting workouts later in the day. Maxey has continued to credit that early-morning mentality as part of his development.
Rondo now sees another familiar face alongside him.
“To this day, he’s still working out at five thirty in the morning,” Rondo said. “Him and Bron in the gym.”
Rajon Rondo on his relationship with Tyrese Maxey:
“The crazy thing is I’m out here in LA now and, I had the opportunity. I’m out here with my son and we got up this morning, last three days. We got up at five thirty in the morning and we’ve been driving to work out, watch… pic.twitter.com/ZGIhEgCtTU
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) August 13, 2026
Maxey has previously spoken about working out with LeBron James during summers in Los Angeles, with James himself praising the younger guard’s commitment to getting into the gym around 5 a.m.
For Rondo, though, the story is less about the celebrity names involved than the consistency.
He first met Maxey as a young guard trying to get into the gym earlier than everyone else. Years later, Rondo is still watching him do the same thing.
