A lifelong fan’s reflection on Marcus Smart: the hustler, the philanthropist, the Celtic.

In a 2019 game against the Charlotte Hornets, Marcus Smart made headlines for publicly yelling at head coach Brad

Stevens. He had just picked up his fifth foul and in turn, was pulled out of the game, barking at Brad on his way to the bench.

We didn’t know it at the time, but with that heated exchange, the Love & Trust era was born.

“This is the part about Marcus that I love — his fire, his competitiveness,” Stevens said after the game. “If there’s a

moment when he’s upset with us, that’s all part of it. We move on pretty quickly. We’ve been together a long time,

and I’ve been yelled at before, and that’s okay. I love him and I trust him, and he’ll get every opportunity.”

I love him and I trust him.

Celtics fans have repeated that mantra countless times over the past four years, all while Smart earned the starting

point guard position, helped lead the team to the 2022 Finals, and became one of the league’s most tenacious defenders.

It’s been nearly two months since the nine-year veteran was traded to Memphis, and many of you are probably

rolling your eyes at yet another thought piece debriefing the trade and attempting to capture all that Marcus Smart meant to the Celtics franchise and city of Boston at large.

But, the passage of time is a gift when it comes to the art of reflection. I, a lifelong Celtics fan and a brand-new

CelticsBlog writer, have had six weeks to reflect on the franchise-altering trade that brought Kristaps Porzingis to

Boston, and while my emotions regarding the on-court implications of the move have somewhat muted, my

 

appreciation for Marcus has only deepened.

The initial Shams tweet at 11:59pm on June 22nd announcing the shocking trade felt like a bullet shot to the chest. I

impulsively swore off my Celtics allegiance, incredulous that Brad could make such a rash decision in the wee hours of the night.

The wound has since softened — in part, thanks to my mother, who had to actually remind me that Marcus is, in

every sense, perfectly fine and healthy. There’s no shame in a 25-year-old adult dramatically mourning the exit of their favorite player, right?