WALTHAM -- When things got bad for Rajon Rondo -- and they did; the Dallas Mavericks essentially banished him during the playoffs, the Sacramento Kings won nothing of significance with him, and the Chicago Bulls benched him earlier this season -- Boston Celtics guard Avery Bradley sometimes crafted text messages to lift his former teammate's spirit.

People have a lot of different opinions about Rondo, but Bradley considers the guard one of his close friends.

"He was at my wedding," Bradley said earlier this season. "I consider him family."

"It was hard hearing all the negative things about him," Bradley added after practice Friday, two days before Game 1 of a first-round series against Rondo's Bulls. "But I just prayed for him. I wished him well. I would send him texts every now and then like, 'Bro, it doesn't matter. We've all been there before.' He's been the underdog before. And he came into the NBA, people not thinking he could play. Everybody's been there. It's just their job to continue to work and prove people wrong. I feel like every year he's been trying to do that."

Rondo began this year as a starter, fell out of the rotation at one point, and reemerged over the second half of the season with one of his most productive stretches in years. After the All-Star break, he averaged 10.8 points, 7.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game, shooting 47.3 percent from the field and a shocking 46.3 percent from behind the arc.

That run has sparked some discussion about whether Rondo can still morph into "Playoff Rondo."

"I'm a fan of the game," Isaiah Thomas said. "I know whether he tries it or not, those big games he's always gonna be ready for them. He's always gonna play his best. And that's just me watching him when I was younger and before I got in the NBA, you know when it counts he's gonna be ready and he's gonna perform. So we've got to slow him down and eliminate what he does best, and that's getting everyone involved."

Like Thomas, Bostonians remember Rondo's habit of spinning triple-doubles come playoff time. But he hasn't been that player for a long time. Though he's been useful lately, he has never approached his pre-ACL injury form.

In those days, Bradley learned a lot from his older teammate.

"I grew as a player and as a man," Bradley said about his time with Rondo. "He's helped me out in a lot of different ways. And I appreciate him. All his time here I feel like he was one of the best teammates that I've had. And he was a true competitor, one of the hardest-playing teammate I played with. His desire to win, I don't know that many people (like that). He's so competitive. It doesn't matter what we're playing. If we're playing tic-tac-toe he wants to win every single game. So I respect that about him."

Bradley added: "Rondo's like my brother. On the court, off the court, we're brothers. It's weird playing against him, going up against him, but I think I said it last game: I know he's a true competitor and he's going to bring his best game in the playoffs. So it's going to be fun playing against him. Weird but fun."