Marcus Smart is loved and trusted by all

I feel uncomfortable talking to you. Marcus is the best. He’s not the best player - sometimes he is. The vast majority of people here love him. There are some people who I think have been influenced by sports talk radio that don’t. They buy into a narrattive that he thinks he is better than he is and plays like it. That’s always been crazy. He was always a super unselfish player.

He was the heart and soul of this team for a decade and was the bridge between the Pierce Era - Jays Era

Loved Marcus. I used to call him “No! No! YES” because of his aggressive playstyle

Never the best player on the court always the best Celtic on the court.

He means so much to me that I was still rooting for him even on the Lakers.

The worst thing about 2024 is that we couldn’t win it with Marcus.

Just watch any time he subs in at the garden, it erupts. Dude was the bright spot in some shitty times.

He’s overrated and overhated at the same time but he loved the c’s and Boston and the fans show their love back.

He was my favorite player. I still love him. So much so that it disgusts me to see him in a Lakers uniform, but I don’t hate him for it.

Our dawg…forever !

His play style represented everything Boston thought of itself. Tough, gritty, hardworking and a good guy

I will always love Marcus.

https://preview.redd.it/srqmak413v4h1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60b6554b6c740a9b17a5d1ccb85d5beb70ec844c

Give him back

Loved Marcus. He just wanted to win, and did whatever he could to get us there. Sometimes he had irrational confidence, but at the same time, ask him to get run over by a literal truck to win a game, I have little doubt he’d do it.

Hard to see him in a dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty, dirty Lakers uniform, but honestly I’d prefer him to be on a team I hate than one that doesn’t matter.

Fuck the Lakers. I’d give my life for Marcus Smart.

Just look for the DPOY unveiling video. Every C’s fan were represented by the players that were with him at that time. Just pure elation and appreciation.

We wish we could have won the 2024 ring with him

I’d ride with Marcus any day. In a league where guys get paid 10s of millions and often don’t go that hard, Marcus goes hard every night every possession. He might not always do it the way you want, but you can’t criticize his effort. For that he has been my favorite Celtic ever. Love watching effort.

You had him for one season. Now imagine how much we actually love him.

I love Marcus smart, I’m glad he’s doing well and appreciated. Obligatory fuck you

We’re an “us” now?

My favorite player for a decade and now my favorite player not on the Celtics. He’s a dogg

When my son is old enough to understand, I’ll first and foremost be showing him Marcus Smart highlights in an effort to teach him the way basketball should be played

You know how lots of us have Dad’s that had that favorite player from years ago? “My Dad loves Skippy Johnson, never the best player but that was MY Dad’s favorite player”

Marcus Smart will always be my favorite player, I don’t care who puts on a jersey for us over the next ~40-50 years of my life, I’ve seen enough to know it’ll always be Marcus

One of my favorite players ever. I watch this video whenever I miss him https://youtu.be/Pz00F8r5s4c?si=cI6xj4pngqjSg9Ix

HE WAS THE HEART AND SOUL AND HE WAS TAKEN FROM US!!!! FOR WHAT! A CHIP!!!

Come home sweet prince

I still miss him to this day, my goat 🥲

In the 45% of total minutes, Marcus was on the floor for the Lakers, they were a +7.6 net rating team, with the equivalent of 5th best net rating, 3rd best offensive rating and 5th best defensive rating in the NBA.

In the 55% of total minutes Marcus was not on the floor, the Lakers were a -2.6 net rating team, with the equivalent of 21st best net rating, 11th best offensive rating and 27th best defensive rating in the NBA.

Keep in mind, Marcus was by far the best defender on the Lakers and his presence on the floor was the difference between a top 5 level defensive rating team (112.8) and a bottom 5 level defensive team in the NBA (120.1)

His on/off was twice as good as anyone on the team, he led by a country mile in +/- and you could make a strong argument he was the second most impactful player on the team last season, after all the injuries.

https://preview.redd.it/395q3jtdcv4h1.jpeg?width=1110&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec529d37ee0224b62fba6c796f8c2a32747349f6

https://preview.redd.it/bjynfpuf3v4h1.jpeg?width=566&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=06a018f78ed4ffe2a8e71ac15922bd24997be629

Love him despite his faults.

loved him on defense tenacious amazing player hated him as the primary playmaker of the team. Works far better when there’s already a playmaker. But pretty much no one in the league plays harder than Marcus.

He bled green, and we love him.

I love Marcus. But I found myself saying, “Dammit Marcus” way too much. In all fairness, I say that about Jaylen as well.

Marcus always gave maximum effort when he was in the court for us. Best compliment you can give is you love him if he’s on your team and you hate him if he’s not.

He was largely infuriating to watch, and despite the obvious defensive ability his contributions were wildly overrated. Team didn’t miss a beat when he left. The average pink hatter loved him though.

He’s not even close to the player he used to be tbh just hope he can stay healthy. Glad he’s being appreciated

I saw a book on Barnes and Noble the other day that had the “50 Greatest Celtics Players of all time”. It was published in like 2022 or something so before their latest championship. I think they had him in the 30s. I think that is wayyyyy too high considering all the greats who have put on the green. However it put in perspective how much he was in fact loved here in Boston. In his prime he could guard 1-5, and was an absolute badass. He played with such an edge that people in Boston love. Poor mans KG attitude. He was loved here in Boston and probably always will be

Some people are talking about him on here using the word was…I had to check news to make sure he wasn’t dead! He isn’t dead? He IS A CLUCH player when your team needs a play he steps up! He has horrible shot selection. He can’t gauge when he’s hot and cold and when he’s open and covered, and when he should pass or shoot.

It was a good Celtic… he IS a good laker!

its always marcus smart appreciation day

Marcus Smart was the heart and soul of the team; they traded him for Porzingis which led them to their most recent title

We literally gave our soul away for a championship and while I’m stoked I’ve always looked at that year from that perspective.

Wasn’t the most talent player during his tenure but he was without a doubt my favorite.

Marcus meant so much to the Celtics and the city that when he came back to town as a Grizzly in Feb 2024, they had two video welcome back montages for him. One for Marcus as a player, and one for Marcus the person and his charitable endeavors.

Hell, my wife and I flew to Boston just to attend that game to see the welcome Marcus would receive. People were crying around us. He was loved.

Would make some absolutely boneheaded plays, but would somehow end up making the one that would win you a much needed game.

Also took some horrendous shots at ill advised times.

In the words of Lebron - “He’s a pest.” But he was the best pest and he was our pest. So much guts with that guy.

See Flair

He is so easy to love, plays with heart and passion and seems like a great guy

I hate the Lakers BUT I was really glad Marcus did well there after wasting two years in Memphis and Washington.

https://youtu.be/dEQJeG7vBN4?si=hEfBiotVyfkGZ4mU

You’re welcome.

Idk man I loved Smart when he was here and I really thought I was going to miss him… but I don’t. I miss Porzingis and Luke. I miss Drue. But honestly the team has been better since they moved on and he’s not bombing 3s at the end of games any more.

His effort, D, ball awareness are off the charts.

His shooting is inconsistent and spotty.  He’s got some playmaking skills but has some overly risky passing habits which can lead to turn overs at a higher than desired rate

smart was that dude for us for real. yeah he’d drive you nuts sometimes with the shot selection or the flops, but the energy he brought every single night was unmatched. dude would dive for loose balls in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss just because that’s who he is. the garden loved him because he actually cared, and you could feel it.

what people don’t always get is how important he was for the younger guys. when the jays were still figuring it out, smart was the one holding things together on both ends. he wasn’t always the most talented guy on the floor but he made winning plays. respect to you for posting this even as a laker, that’s real.

He was never as important as HE thought he was. Great defensive player but so streaky on offense. He was like the kid playing by himself calling his shot to win the NBA championship.

Him with IT were the glory days between Truth and the Jays 🍀

he was cool at first, was my favorite player, then it got old

by 2023 he was approaching cancer territory for the lockerroom. The staff had drafted replacements for his position consecutive years in the 1st round, and then traded for derrick white and brogdon. Thats 4 years in a row trying to replace him. The team had serious internal struggles and massive chemistry problems. He was the “heart and soul” of a team with negative heart and soul attributes.

He hated Mazzulla (tatum loves Mazz). He took credit for dwhite making all defense and for brogdon winning 6man. He knew he was out of town so he forced their hand with the shenanigans in the 76ers playoffs.

bottom line is marcus got in the way of Tatums brand and he wasnt worth it. Tatum aint gonna be MVP if Marcus is seen as the leader. He was goneeeeee

https://youtu.be/jBiWdS0Hm8s?si=UIn0f88FXBRsUIVu&t=2610 - celtics 2023 team f’d up chemistry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-_HU8V5iQY - marcus missed a shot, teammate hits game winner everyone celebrates with ‘em ‘ceppt marcus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASsKgkBsQs4 - same thing

and then not finding links for marcus doing the rondo and taking the coaches seat, or the off day interviews during the 76ers series. This is the time when he was doing the “you cant fire me, i quit” type shit. basically if yall trading me anyway then ima just pretend that i want out

and maybe worst of all, watching him play was….idk the rules of this sub so I dont know the words i can and cannot say. But the dumbass flopping i dont like watching sorry lol

He was my favorite player the second he was drafted and stayed that way until he was traded.

Marcus Smart will always be loved here but unfortunately it was time. His ego of being the bridge could not be put down to allow the Jays to flourish. I mean the amount of times the ball was in his hands when it mattered while tatum and brown sat there like nobodies started to become glaringly obvious in big spots.

He means a lot to me as the first jersey I ever bought. I think his hustle and leadership embodied what I imagined of the Celtics when my dad talked to me about them. As far as I am concerned, he will always be welcomed and adored in TD.

People here gonna lie to you and say he was such a great Celtic and whatever. I disagree at this point, great Celtics check their ego at the door and do what is best for the team and he simply could not.

He was a good Celtic, but he couldn’t put aside his own ego and was destroying our chances in real time. It’s no coincidence when we replaced him with Jrue we instantly won the championship lol.

The team was Tatum’s, and Marcus couldn’t deal with that shit. It was abundantly clear he wasn’t the guy on the court, but still attempted to be at the end of games, he constantly had games where he just simply shot way to fucking many times for his own good, and for our own good.

Yeah once in a while he would go off, but I attribute my current baldness to Marcus shooting dumb fucking shots. Just because he dyed his hair green doesn’t mean I have to like him, just because he claimed to bleed green doesn’t mean he truly did(if he did he would have had no problem stepping aside for JT). And that’s outside of the locker room discourse he caused.

There was always uneasiness, always a question who was the locker room leader and who headed that shit. JB and JT? Marcus? Marcus made it weird instead of passing the reigns off. He was there when JT and JB were rooks, and he should have known that he was going to have to pass it on to them. A true vet does what Big Al did, passes the reigns, but still retains a veteran leadership presence, doesn’t try to overstep the people who are the guy.

JT and JB weren’t exactly cryin when Marcus left, and that speaks volumes to me.

Marcus was my favorite Celtic since we drafted him. A true competitor, one of only two guards to win DPOY, and one of of my favorite players ever. Boston legend

Marcus was and still is EVERYTHING. We love him and are happy to see him succeed even with the Lakers.

I was absolutely crushed when we traded him

Like yeah it was absolutely the right decision, but he was the longest tenured Celtic at the time, and always played 110%

His 3’s drove me up a wall, but I will always have a place in my heart for him

He meant everything to me. Legit felt like the Celtics lost their identity after he left… obviously that wasn’t true, but there’s no doubt that he was the heart of our team and we would’ve had much less success without him.

Great defender, lots of hustle. One of those glue guys personality wise that I feel most teams should want, help keep people grounded or fire them up. Also was the guy to really carry the flag during a time when there was a ton of roster turnover. There definitely were a fair amount of times where I’d question his shot selection, but I think all his positives overall outweighed the negatives.

Enough, so I was rooting for the Lakers in the playoffs.

I fucking love Marcus Smart and always have. Wish he was able to win a ring with the Celtics. He deserved it.

Edit: grammar

real fucking spill man i really wish he could’ve won with us

Emotional leader who kept the team rolling through times of transition with Ainge bringing in big names and egos (Kyrie, Hayward), drafting young studs (Jays), and moving out to Utah leaving Brad in charge. He played a blue collar style with his heart that endeared himself to fans, but was a low efficiency volume shooter who hurt the team as much as he helped. Notice since he’s been gone there are almost no “player only meetings”.

I fucking love Marcus Smart. Take care of him

It will always hurt that he wasn’t here for the ring.

GTFO

He held the team back and needed to go. Should’ve been traded sooner.

Old and overrated

https://youtu.be/MvWdHb1FSPc

From when someone (maybe Riffsman) on Weird Celtics Twitter said Smarf plays like how “Stigmata” by Ministry sounds.

Loved his hustle. However he needed to go. He thought he was part of a big 3 and was never going to accept his actual role while in Boston.

I love the way Smart plays. But I hope he tries to be the hero in all of your team’s clutch moments.

went from a diehard to a casual Cs fan when they got rid of him

I cried when he left. Fell to my knees. Loved and trusted by all.

As a Lakers fan, you probably enjoyed when he was still with us and drew two straight late charges on Harden if you saw that live like we all did

Fuck off! ☘️☘️☘️His heart will ALWAYS be in Boston. He’s OURS! TITLETOWN.

Marcus was the man, he had his shooting troubles, but beloved by the masses

Marcus plays for the Lakers now?

I have… feelings :(

I own his jersey and was devastated when he was traded. My favorite Celtic player in years

Loved the guy- wish him the absolute best. Traded away at the perfect time

Marcus will always have a special place in Boston. I’ve witnessed the highs and the lows in the 2000s Celtics. Marcus was such a Celtic guy since day 1.

His shooting was horrible. Would you rather have Prichard or Smart? Opinions?

I loved him. He was a fan favorite for a while I hated to see him go. But I have to admit Dru Holliday turned out to be exactly what we needed. But Marcus was one of my favorite players!

I will always love and miss that beautiful man

I didn’t like him when we drafted him but he grew on me. When we traded him I didn’t love it, but I understand why it had to be done.
Pro-his defense and passion
Cons-he took big shots and missed too much to continue taking big shots.

Just gonna point out, we don’t hate you, we just hate your team. You’re alright

Marcus Smart is an all-time beloved figure round these parts.

Marcus Dumb on the other hand…

Shuttup dude gtfoh

What should we be appreciating? All the rings? The guys I appreciate are guys like Scott Pollard, Jrue Holiday, Greg Kite, etc. These men put it DOWN on the court so we could put it UP in the rafters. We don’t appreciate losing here. Fuck marcus smart, you can keep his flopping ass. Fuck the lakers more.

People love him but I felt like his desire to shoot the basketball kept us from winning a title and we were instantly better the second he was gone

His ego got in the way of the team becoming a championship team. But he had so many great moments, was loved when he was here but happy he was traded for Porzingis AND picks. The 2 moments that really made me not a fan of him was when he basically cried his way on to the Sports Illustrated cover with JB & JT. And when he refused to come off the bench when Derrick White was clearly the better player at the end of his tenure

Marcus means everything to us

Marcus Smart is this generation’s Rondo. 

The Celtics would never won a championship if smart was on the team

He wasn’t a great fit with Celtics. He required the ball too much. There was definitely an issue of Brown and Tatum overshadowing him. Still really liked him as a player tho. He brought great energy every night and left everything on the floor