Marcus Smart Clashes With a Fan in Emotional Boston Return

Marcus Smart is one of those guys that every team in the NBA would be glad to have. Many coaches and former players complain about the league getting “softer,” and the lack of physicality in the modern players and the modern NBA. However, Smart is one of the few players in the league who has no problems getting his hands dirty and whether it’s hustle plays, diving for loose balls, rebounding, getting in the opponent’s head, he’ll do it all. Recently in a game against the Boston Celtics, Smart was heckled by the a Celtics’ fan and here is what he had to say about the situation.

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Smart Had a Shouting Match With a Fan During Boston Return

During a game on Sunday between the Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, former Boston Celtics’ guard Marcus Smart (now with the Wizards), clashed with a fan heckling the road team’s bench. The incident occurred late in a lopsided 124-90 loss to the defending champions. Smart said “Just crossed the line and we all know, I don’t do line crossing so that was it, we move on.” Even though Smart was heated when the incident had occurred, he had calmed down by the time the post-game interview started. He also noted he was pointing the fan out to the security to de-escalate the situation, adding, “you never want to see that, especially for a guy who’s coming back and has given the city everything he has.”

His comments reflects the deep connection that he still feels towards Boston, where he was a fan favorite before being traded away to the Grizzlies. When Smart was asked about if he still keeps in touch with former teammates at Boston, Smart stated, “Actually often, more than you would probably think… It’s definitely good to keep in touch with those guys. Grew up with those guys. We went through a lot of battles. It’s blood, sweat, and tears.” Few of those guys came to my mom’s funeral so it’s a deeper bond than just basketball between us.”

Smart’s NBA Career So Far

Smart played for the Boston Celtics for the 9 years, and was drafted by them in the 2014 NBA draft as the sixth overall pick. The Celtics were rebuilding at the time and drafting Smart was one of the critical points of the Celtics’ turnaround. A couple of years down the line, Celtics had a core group of Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum, and Marcus Smart. While Tatum and Brown handled most of the offensive duties, Smart was the glue guy for the team, who played great defense and was the voice and the leader for the young Celtics, at that point in time. After spending time rebuilding the team and letting the players develop their game, the Celtics’ shining moment came in 2022 when they entered the NBA Finals for the first time with Smart, Brown, and Tatum leading the way. Even though the group ended up losing to the Warriors in 6 games, the future was bright for Boston.

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Smart won the Defensive Player of the Year award in 2021-22 season. However, he was traded away to the Memphis Grizzlies after the 2022-23 season and was thereafter traded again, this season, to the Washington Wizards.