Emulating Marcus Smart will take Nate Hinton far in the NBA and just might make him very popular in Boston.
The former Houston Cougars guard addressed comparisons between the Boston Celtics guard and himself Wednesday in an interview with Heavy.com's Brandon "Scoop B." Robinson. Hinton's determined, high-energy playing style earned him second-team All-American Athletic Conference honors in his sophomore season and caught the attention of NBA teams, one of which is expected to select him Wednesday night in the 2020 NBA Draft. The comparisons to Smart don't surprise him.
"Honestly, I play like a dog out there man," Hinton said. "I don't think you can put a label on who I play like. I kind of play like Marcus Smart because of how he plays with his aggression. He's all over the place and just the mindset of Patrick Beverley and Montrezl Herrell; guys like that.
"It's not the fact that I play like them but, it's just the mentality that I take on with guys like that. So it’s a little bit of Avery Bradley and it’s just guys that take pride in guarding and I think that outside of their size, they just have the knack and have the pride of that I’m going to stop you and I'm going to get my team stops and energize my team ... I think that’s where the comparisons can come from."
Through a mix of talent and will power, Smart has become the heart- and-soul of the Celtics and developed into an NBA All-Defensive First Team player.
Hinton also revealed to Robinson that he interviewed with the Celtics in the lead-up to the NBA Draft. The Celtics own three picks in the first round and one in the second, and he sounds like he won't feel a culture shock if Boston ends up picking him.
“Just the usual," Hinton said of the talks with Boston. "Just trying to get to know me. Because you see the film, you hear from coaches doing research on your background and then once they get a chance to see me, you see that’s the real me. But it was just really general questions and them trying to pick my brain and see what I’m all about and I’m all about winning. So you know, the Boston Celtics have a history of winning so that’s what kind of got those guys interested and we'll see what happens."
Hinton likely will learn Wednesday night where his NBA journey will begin. If he lands in Boston, he'll have the chance to learn the ropes from one of his role models.
