8. Song Of The Week: Kid Cudi And Rajon Rondo

For this week's song of the week, we got to Kid Cudi, "Simple As..."

And that song, from one of the most unorthodox hip hop stars of this era, goes to Rajon Rondo. Kid Cudi: is he a rapper? A singer? Just someone that smokes a lot of weed? It's sort of unclear. And the same goes for Rondo, as he continues to boggle the mind with his success. He's like one, big thought experiment: what would it be like if a star point guard had no jumpshot? Players sag off him on almost every play. Last night in the fourth quarter, Antawn Jamison literally gave him a 15-foot cushion, and he still didn't shoot.

Yet, despite all the disrespect, Rondo consistently manages to make plays and dissect defenses. On that play with Jamison, he took two hard dribbles inside the key, drew the defense out just enough, and then put a soft lob right under the basket, and into the hands of Kevin Garnett. What more do you want? He's been doing this for a few years now, and even as the league's conceded to his brilliance and afforded him more defensive attention, he still manages to be successful. It's head-scratching stuff, but like Kid Cudi, you're just glad he's here. The NBA--and hip hop--is more interesting with these guys around. Simple as that, for your simple ass.