Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart received a meaningful surprise on Monday.
The Celtics shared a video of Smart walking onto the practice court with all of his teammates and coaches along with other members of the organization and NBA Hall of Fame guard Gary Payton waiting for him. Also on the court, was a printed tweet about how guards not named Payton are excluded from the DPOY running.
Payton informed Smart that he won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2021-22 season, the first guard to do so since Payton himself in 1995-96.
Smart has been outspoken about the lack of guards to win the award recently and now can say that he broke the mold himself.
