CANTON, MASS. — Marcus Smart is going through a hell that won’t soon pass.
Despite his grief, however, the Boston Celtics guard is maintaining a perspective that should inspire us all.
Smart’s mother, Camellia Smart, recently died after a long battle with myelodysplastic syndrome, a rare form of bone marrow cancer. Smart, whose brother, Todd Westbrook, died of cancer in 2004, addressed the situation Monday during Celtics media day at High Output Studios.
“Last couple months have been real humbling. It kind of brings you back to reality,” Smart said. “But I have a great supporting cast around me, great community in Boston and in Dallas (his hometown), great organization in the Celtics, friends and family.
“Right now is the easiest part for me. The hardest part for me is when everybody has to go back to reality and to work. That’s probably when it’s gonna hit me the hardest. … I’ve been a part of this before, so that makes it a little easier.”
Smart, at one point, was asked whether the passing of his mother has made him even more intense than usual (a scary thought) during recent pickup games. The 24-year-old let out a nervous laugh, then said this:
“A lot of people have heard me say this and explain it this way: I look at basketball as like a storm — but it’s the eye of the storm. In a tornado or something like that, the calmest place of it is to be right in the eye of it. And that’s what basketball is for me — it’s my eye. While everything else around me’s going on, the distraction, the destruction, things like that, basketball keeps me calm.
“That’s probably why I go out and you see me dive on the floor or take a charge and throw my body this way and give it everything I have. Because I know and understand that any day could be my last day. And if it was, would I be proud of what I accomplished in that time period?
“God has blessed me with the ability to go out there and play a game I love to play. And I don’t want to feel any regret about it. So I go out every day and play like it’s my last.”
Listen: To each their own grieving process, but it’s hard to imagine anyone handling tragedy better than Smart has.
Smart agreed to a four-year, $52 million extension with the Celtics during the offseason. So, get used to seeing his inspirational style of play, and approach to life, for the foreseeable future.
