Terry Rozier and the Celtics parted ways this summer, but it appears the Puma influence may be sticking around in Boston.
Marcus Smart, affiliated with Adidas throughout his professional career, has been seen wearing Puma gear in Las Vegas, Nev. at USA Basketball Men’s National Team training camp Sunday and Monday.
The official NBA Twitter account captured a shot of Smart heading into a team meeting alongside his Celtics teammates, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, and the 25-year-old was decked out in Puma apparel. Did Smart just raid Rozier’s closet on his way out of town? You be the judge:
As Day 1 of training camp began Monday, it became rather apparent that Smart simply wasn’t wearing some gifts from his former teammate. The guard was wearing red, white and blue Puma Uproars at UNLV’s Mendenhall Center, leading many to speculate that Smart was a sneaker free agent.
That speculation was met with an answer from ESPN’s shoe expert Nick DePaula less than 10 minutes later. Smart’s rookie deal with Adidas is set to expire, and the Celtics guard shares a mutual interest with Puma in a multi-year deal, according to DePaula.
When pressed for an answer on Monday, Smart replied, “I plead the fifth,” with a smile, per NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg.
