Marcus Smart spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies last June.
Smart came close to winning a championship in Boston, only to see the the Celtics finish the deal the year after he left. If you’re wondering if that bothers him, the veteran guard made it clear recently that it doesn’t.
During an appearance on “Run Your Race,” Smart recounted the battles he had against the Eastern Conference alongside Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown before saluting his former teammates on winning the NBA Finals.
“Shout out to Jaylen, Jayson and the Boston Celtics. Congratulations on the championship,” Smart said. “They built that. They went through the mud. They didn’t skip any steps. I was there for nine years out of my career and I seen it. It’s no coincidence they reached their goal now.
“I’m just so proud of them. I’m proud to be able to be in the trenches with them, to know those guys and to be able to go to work with them every day that I had the chance to do it.”
Smart said he knows “everyone is expecting me to be salty” and seeing Boston win was “definitely a bittersweet feeling,” but he’s still happy for them.
“My wife will tell you, I was screaming for those guys when they won it as much as anybody else,” Smart said.
In his first season in Memphis, Smart was limited to just 20 games due to injuries. He averaged 14.5 points and 4.3 assists when he did play.
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