Marcus Smart has played in the NBA for eight seasons, and the perception surrounding him changed various times throughout that time. Early on in his career, he was viewed (correctly) as a potential elite on-ball defender, who would provide next to nothing on offense. There was some chatter that he was not living up to his billing as a sixth overall pick in the NBA Draft. There have been instances where his name has been front and center with regards to attractive trade packages the Boston Celtics could put together. The Celtics themselves believed they needed to continuously upgrade at point guard over Smart, by bringing in the likes of Kemba Walker, Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving.
While his reputation and standing throughout the league and on his own team can change several more times before his career is over, it is probably safe to say that Smart’s value is probably as high as it has ever been. He is coming off of a season where he won Defensive Player Of The Year, and turned out to be the answer Boston had been looking for at point guard all along. His energy and passion has also never waned regardless of the circumstances, which will endear him to Celtics fans for many years to come.
Marcus Smart – Childhood
Marcus Osmond Smart’s story begins on March 6, 1994 in Flower Mound, Texas. He was born to parents Camellia Smart and Billy Frank Smart, and had siblings from their unity and from Camellia’s previous relationship as well. Marcus Smart grew up extremely close to his brothers Michael, Jeff Westbrook and Todd Westbrook, as his mother and father would routinely have to deal with health issues during his childhood.
There were a lot of ways that Smart’s life could have been derailed by temptations that surrounded him. Some of his brother fell into those vices, engaging in crime, or getting involved with drugs. Marcus Smart managed to avoid those, but he had a lot of aggression and anger that he needed to channel. He would bully other kids and people to show how tough he was, and sometimes that came back to negatively affect him. He would ultimately be sent to a reform school to help control the outbursts that were becoming destructively commonplace.
What held back sometimes in regular society would end up propelling him in the athletic realm. Smart’s motor and willingness to use physicality to help overwhelm opponents was unlike anything many teammates or youth coaches had ever seen. If he could reign in his aggression and channel it for positive purposes, he was going to be a special kind of prospect.
Marcus Smart – High School
He took a bit of a tumultuous road there, but Marcus Smart would eventually make his way to Edmund S. Marcus High School. From the first day he arrived on campus with the idea of playing on the basketball team, Smart only approached the journey one way; with unbridled and unrelenting hustle and determination. There were certain drills that other players would only go through the motions for, but he went full bore, because that’s the only speed he knew.
Not surprisingly, Marcus Smart would become a force for the basketball team. During his three years on the varsity, the program went 115-6. The team would become a lot tougher thanks to his presence. Smart would routinely welcome the challenge of guarding players as much as eight inches taller than him, and would often times outrebound them when all was said and done. The team would win two state championships during his time there.
Marcus Smart – College
Coming out of high school, Marcus Smart’s numbers were impressive, but not necessarily other worldly. He was a solid scorer, a really good rebounder for a guard, and could make plays adequately enough for a lead guard. His wide, strong frame and defensive skills made him one of the most coveted prospects in the country. He was the 10th ranked player overall in ESPN’s top 100 prospect rankings for the class of 2012, ahead of the likes of Jerami Grant, Terry Rozier and Montrezl Harrell.
Smart had a lot of collegiate options as a top prospect, and his finalists were the University of Texas, University of North Carolina, and Oklahoma State University. His ultimate decision ended up being tied to one that his longtime friend and fellow high school Phil Forte also had to make. Oklahoma State had legitimate individual interest in both players, which helped them decide that they should play their college basketball together as well.
Marcus Smart would hit the ground running as a freshman, He averaged over 15 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. His scoring would come and go, but he would fill up the box score on a game to game basis. Perhaps the best game of his season came in a win against the Kansas Jayhawks, where he scored 25 points, grabbed nine rebounds, and recorded five steals. The Cowboys would make the NCAA Tournament, but would lose to the University of Oregon in their first game. Despite the defeat, Smart had five steals in that game as well.
Professional evaluators were impressed with Marcus Smart’s game, and figured that he could be an immediate contributor to an NBA roster. There were some draft projections that had him going as high as the top three. However, to the surprise of a lot of people, Smart decided to continue his college career.
As one of the premier players in the NCAA in 2013-2014, Smart’s game was being very closely watched. Many expected him to take over every single game on both ends of the floor, but the Cowboys got off to an uneven start that season. Frustration reached a boiling point when Marcus Smart pushed a fan towards the end of a close game in February 2014.
Even though the team record may have been a little disappointing, it was hard to poke too many holes in Smart’s game as a sophomore. He increased his scoring average by three points, and shot the ball a bit better from two point range. His ancillary stats remained the same, confirming the well-rounded ability he always had.
Smart had a sensational game in the NCAA tournament against the Gonzaga Bulldogs, scoring 23 points, grabbing 13 rebounds, dishing out seven assists and posting six steals. He shot 19 free throws, but it still was not enough to lead Oklahoma State to a win.
Marcus Smart – Boston Celtics
The 2013-2014 had just come off of missing the postseason under new head coach Brad Stevens. It was apparent that the Doc Rivers-led, veteran-laden Boston Celtics team of the past several years was a thing of the past. A new era of players would need to bring Boston back to the promised land.
One way to reboot the team would be to make a worthwhile selection with the sixth pick of the 2014 NBA Draft. Boston could have gone with a higher upside scorer like Kentucky’s Julius Randle or Creighton’s Doug McDermott, but decided to bring in Marcus Smart, who would complement whoever the team had on the roster.
Although they were a team in transition, the Celtics made the NBA playoffs in Smart’s rookie year, but would end up being swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stevens would include Smart as a legitimate part of his rotation, and the rookie played 22 minutes per night in the postseason.
Boston was certainly a team on the rise though. They would win 48 games the following year, and grab the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference. They played hard, but would fall in six games to a more experienced Atlanta Hawks team led by Al Horford, Jeff Teague and Paul Millsap. Those were the growing pains the franchise would need to go through to have better days in the seasons to follow. Smart would average nine points a game, while continuing to dive for loose balls and play physical defense.
Bolstered by a career season from Isaiah Thomas, and a gritty effort from players like Smart, Terry Rozier and rookie Jaylen Brown, the Celtics raced out to the number one seed in the East. Many were unsure if this momentum would fizzle out during the postseason, but Boston also had veteran Al Horford to help stabilize what was generally a young team. Their youth didn’t prove to be an issue in the first two series against the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards.
Washington gave them all they could handle in the second round, but the Celtics took control of Game 7 at home, which advanced them to the Eastern Conference Finals. Unfortunately, due to some injury circumstances with Thomas, the team lacked firepower in their series with the Cavaliers, and ended up bowing out in five games. The amount of meaningful moments this team was building together though was impressive.
Thanks to some savvy transactions by general manager Danny Ainge, Boston was able to add to their stable of young talent by selecting Jayson Tatum in the 2017 NBA Draft. They would make the Conference Finals in two out of the next three seasons, but would end up losing grueling series to the Cavaliers and the Miami Heat in the NBA bubble.
Marcus Smart’s net worth got a boost when the team decided to offer him an extension during the 2021 offseason. He ended up signing for an additional four years, worth $77 million.
Marcus Smart – NBA Finals
The 2021-2022 campaign would start very much like the last several seasons have for the Celtics. They were among a handful of teams that were contenders to make the NBA Finals, but they would need to prove they could do it. Jayson Tatum had become a bonifide NBA star, and Jaylen Brown had become one of the best two-way players in the league.
It didn’t seem like Boston had the necessary chemistry to make a run early on in the season, as Smart called out Brown and Tatum in the media for not passing the ball to their teammates.
However, Boston’s collective defense reached elite levels during the second half of the 2022 regular season, thanks in large part to the play of Smart. The franchise would hope to ride this strength through the NBA playoffs.
In somewhat of a stunning result, they defeated the high powered Brooklyn Nets in a sweep in the first round of the playoffs. Boston would then accept the ultimate challenge in rounds two and three, by defeating the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks and hard nosed Miami Heat in seven games each. For most of the players on the team, this would be their first NBA Finals.
The Boston Celtics had a memorable game with their NBA Finals opponent, the Golden State Warriors, in the regular season. Marcus Smart would dive for a loose ball and crash into Stephen Curry’s leg/foot, which would cause the latter to miss the rest of the regular season.
Boston came out hot in Game 1, and shocked the Warriors with a road win. However, Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green would eventually find their groove, and defeat the Celtics in six games.
How many steals does Marcus Smart have?
Marcus Smart is one of the most physical and intense defenders in the NBA today. Ballhandlers need to be careful when they dribble around Smart’s vicinity, as he will not make it easy for an offensive player to get to their spot. He has logged 914 career regular season steals, which comes out to 1.6 swipes of the ball throughout his career.
How many 3s does Marcus Smart make per game?
When he entered the league back in 2014, Marcus Smart was not known as a lethal three point shooter. In many cases, the team was better off with a different option taking a shot from long range than Smart when he was a young player. While he is not quite a marksman from downtown, he had taken great strides to improve his accuracy from long distance. For his career, he has made an average of 1.5 three pointers per game. However, a closer look at his statistics will reveal that his average threes made has been highest in the last three completed seasons.
What is Marcus Smart known for?
Marcus Smart is known for his tenacious and unrelenting defensive play. He sets the tone with extreme ball pressure on the perimeter, and does not back down from some of the NBA’s most talented offensive players. He has made the All-Defensive team three times in his eight year career. In 2021-2022, he received the highest individual honor a player can receive for his work on the less glamorous side of the court. Marcus Smart won the Defensive Player Of The Year Award, and was a main catalyst for the Boston Celtics’ impressive defensive play that led them to an NBA Finals appearance.
Where did Marcus Smart go to college?
After an impressive high school career, he took his promising basketball talents to Oklahoma State in 2012. For two seasons, Smart honed his skills with the Cowboys before being selected sixth overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics.
