Marcus Smart Makes Bold Confession Reflecting On Celtics Departure

BOSTON — It’s been over seven months since the Celtics pulled a surprise offseason trigger and traded away Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies, closing a nine-year stint with the organization.

Coming off a disappointing playoff finish, which ended in a seven-game rollercoaster series to an eighth-seeded Miami Heat team, the Celtics went full throttle. Smart couldn’t avoid being picked out of a handful of departees made toward acquiring Kristaps Porzingis (in Smart’s case), Jrue Holiday and others to repolish the new-look Celtics roster.

Capable of putting biases aside, Smart is fully understanding of where the front office and ownership were coming from.

“If it was me, I’d make the same business decision as well,” Smart admitted before Sunday night’s return to Boston. “All I asked was that (the team) could’ve gave a heads up or just a simple, ‘Hey, you’ve been here nine years. We just wanna let you know this is what’s going on.’ Perfect. At the end of the day, I’m a businessman as well. That’s what it was (and) where the hurt really comes from.”

Smart added: “There’s no ill will toward the organization, toward my teammates, toward the coaching staff. I love everybody and (I’m) thankful to have had the opportunity to play with those guys.”

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Smart joined Boston in 2014 when taken with the sixth overall pick in the NBA draft. At the time under then-head coach Brad Stevens, Smart was a member of a rebuilding Celtics team with no stars, and in search of its next go-to core for the future.

For years, Smart played alongside aging veterans like Brandon Bass, David Lee, Evan Turner and Amir Johnson, with no chance of making a legitimate run toward the NBA Finals. That narrative changed once Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum arrived, giving the front office a reason to invest — which it did.

Boston made a run to the NBA Finals in 2022, and fell short in six games to the Golden State Warriors after the Celtics took a 2-1 series lead.

Now, two years removed from squandering that chance at Banner 18, the Celtics are out for redemption, already off to an NBA-best 37-12 start this season. Meanwhile, Smart’s still recovering from a finger injury while the Grizzlies have plummeted to 13th place in the Western Conference.

Needless to say, watching Boston excel rapidly hasn’t been easy to watch from afar for the 29-year-old.

“When you come that close and you have to leave, (for) anybody in this position, it’d be hard to fathom that and try not to wrap your head around it,” Smart explained. “But at the end of the day, like I said, it doesn’t stop how I feel about those guys. Just as much as I think I deserve (a championship), they deserve it as much as well. That’s why I say I am ecstatic for those guys because they’ve worked just as hard as they deserve it as much as I do.”

Smart was honored on Sunday night with a team-provided video tribute along with an in-game ovation as Boston’s “Hero Among Us,” recognizing Smart’s ongoing community work off the basketball court.