Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum may be the face of the team, but the two believe Marcus Smart is the most important player for the Boston Celtics. Not only is Smart the longest-tenured player, but Brown and Tatum acknowledge him as the “heart and soul” of the squad.
After the Celtics' 122-120 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday, Brown and Tatum talked to the media about Smart's impact on the squad. Brown shared that Smart had to take a different role for the team this year. So far, he's been nothing but stellar as the Celtics' point guard.
“Marcus Smart is the heart and soul of this team,” Jaylen Brown said. “His energy and his poise has been great for us. They asked him to step up and play the point guard position and he’s matched that. He got me easy baskets. He got Jayson easy baskets. He got himself easy baskets as well. So I’m proud to see Marcus Smart grow and the responsibility that he’s gotten he’s handled it.”
The same sentiments were echoed by Tatum. From his observation, Smart — who has played the shooting guard spot for most of his NBA career with Boston — has done a great job orchestrating Brad Stevens' offensive playbook.
“He’s been running the team, you know, starting at point making sure we’re in our spots and we’ve been organized. He’s been doing a really good job,” Jayson Tatum said, per Alexandra Francisco of NESN.
So far, Smart is averaging 12.5 points per game and a career-best 6.7 assists for the Celtics.
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