Jaylen Brown Explains How Once-Bumpy Relationship With Marcus Smart Evolved

Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown didn’t try to sugarcoat his relationship with Marcus Smart.

As Brown explained to Shams Charania in an interview for Stadium recently, it hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows between the two Celtics teammates during their tenure with the organization.

Brown and Smart are in their seventh season together and while they have a close bond now, it wasn’t always like that. There have been stages of their relationship that involved bumpy moments, including when Brown and Smart reportedly got into a heated exchange after Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat in 2020. And Smart publicly criticizing both Brown and Tatum early last season couldn’t have gone over well, either.

But Brown and Smart have weathered it all and according to Brown, have a tight connection as they try to help the Celtics back to the NBA Finals.

“Me and Marcus, we got a brother-like relationship because me and him have bumped heads millions of times,” Brown told Charania. “We did put each other in headlocks, arm wrestled, to almost fist fighting. All types of stuff. But all out of love. We learned. We’re passionate individuals. We’ve learned from each other, we value each other and we’ve pushed each other over time. We’ve held each other accountable over time. And then it just created that relationship now where Marcus has become like a family figure in my family just because I know where I stand with that person. I know where he stands with me.

“We don’t always see eye-to-eye, but when you can look somebody in the (eye) and you can trust them and you know they’ll go to war for you, those are the type of people you want to keep around in your life. Marcus is one of those guys for sure. I know if I called him and I needed him, he would be there.”

Brown and Smart have both been there for each other on the court, though, especially this season during testy encounters with opponents. In the season opener against the Philadelphia 76ers, Brown rushed to Smart’s side after Brown took exception to the way Joel Embiid knocked Smart to the floor.

Brown’s relationship with Smart isn’t the only one that has come under scrutiny in recent years. How Brown and Tatum interact is always under a microscope, but Brown had nothing but glowing things to say about his connection with his running mate.

The relationship between Brown and Smart, and even Tatum for that matter, surely is not perfect, but the foundation is in place to be able to thrive together on the court after all these years together.