Celtics’ Marcus Smart Opens Up About All-Defense Teams Snub Last Season

It’s no secret Marcus Smart gives his all when he’s on the court.

The Boston Celtics guard is gritty and puts his body on the line game after game in order to provide his team a chance to win. Smart showed it countless times throughout the season and in the Eastern Conference finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

You certainly couldn’t deny his defensive ability on the hardwood, which is why it came as a shock when Smart was left off the first and second All-Defense teams last seson. And if you ask the 24-year old, he believes he should have been included.

“I did feel like I should (have been on the All-Defense teams),” Smart told MassLive’s Tom Westerholm. “I’m one of the best defenders in this league, especially defending on the perimeter. I definitely feel like I should have been on one of those lists. To see guys I know don’t play defense — or nowhere near the defensive caliber I am — on it, it’s a slap across the face.”

Smart wouldn’t name the specific players who “don’t play defense,” but he said at the end of the day, not making the team doesn’t make him any less of a player.

“That doesn’t determine who I am,” he said. “So I never paid too much attention to it. I’ll try not to pay too much attention to it again.”