The heart and soul of the Boston Celtics impressively bucked an NBA trend Monday.
One day after the Celtics defeated the Brooklyn Nets in Game 1 of their first-round playoff series, it was revealed Smart is the recipient of the Defensive Player of the Year award for the 2021-22 season. Smart becomes the first guard to take home the honors since Gary Payton, who did so in the 1995-96 campaign.
The Celtics pulled out all the stops to break the exciting news to their longest-tenured player, including a passing of the torch of sorts with “The Glove” himself. After all of the festivities concluded, Smart took to Instagram to show appreciation across the board.
“Really blown away (to be honest), Incredibly honored!” Smart wrote. “Just happy to be able to do get this award with our team and my brothers on the team. This is for you mama! I love you.”
The honor is well-deserved for Smart, who was a member of the NBA’s All-Defensive First Team in three of the past four seasons. Prior to this year, the Celtics guard had finished no higher than a tie for sixth in the DPOY voting.
Of course, Smart currently has more important matters at hand than adding individual awards to his trophy case. The Celtics on Wednesday will take to take a commanding 2-0 lead in their best-of-seven series against the Nets.
