Camellia Smart, Mother Of Celtics’ Marcus Smart, Passes Away From Cancer

Camellia Smart, the 63-year-old mother of Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart, passed away Sunday due to cancer.

The guard revealed the sad news with a heartfelt note Monday night on his official Twitter account, noting his mother was his “biggest fan and biggest critic.”

Marcus Smart said in April he found out about his mother’s myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of bone marrow cancer, while he went to visit her in Dallas while he was rehabbing from thumb surgery. Though she was battling cancer, Camellia Smart urged her son to return to the team, continue his rehab and get back on the court so she could watch him play — something she loved to do.

She was able to watch Marcus Smart and the Celtics have a lengthy playoff run, coming within a game of the NBA Finals before being eliminated by the Cleveland Cavaliers.