Marcus Smart was not happy with his coach Brad Stevens after being called for a series of fouls in Thursday's game against the Charlotte Hornets. The Boston Celtics defensive ace was pulled to the bench after being shoved to the ground by second-year forward Miles Bridges in the fourth quarter, which caused the veteran to have a few words with his coach.

“I just was telling him, especially when everything is going that way, they’re just picking and picking, and it’s like they’re eyeing on me and it’s like they are doing it on purpose,” Smart said, according to Tom Westerholm of Mass Live. “So I’m telling them like, ‘At some point, you have to step in and say something as a coach. But since you won’t, I’ve got to.’ I understand from Brad’s standpoint, but at the same time, from the player’s standpoint, like, you’ve got to step in.

“By taking (a player) out, you just allow that to sit up and build up. I’m never like, ‘I need to take a break.’ I want to keep playing and I want to thug it out, even especially when everybody else is doing it, and it’s just like, ‘Hey, you’ve got to let me play.’ Especially, you know, I’ve been in six years, I’ve been doing this for six years, and I know what I’m doing. I can handle it. Just let me play.”

Stevens explained his reasoning for pulling Smart out after a heated confrontation with Bridges.

“We need Marcus,” Stevens said. “I’ve told him a number of times how much we need him. This is the part about Marcus that I love — his fire, his competitiveness. If there’s a moment when he’s upset with us, that’s all part of it. We move on pretty quickly.”

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Both sides have a clear bone to pick here. Stevens has the responsibility of being a coach and ensuring things don't escalate into a war with Bridges or the officials. Smart on the other hand, just wants the respect from the officials to earn calls when he's fouled and not get called for petty fouls just due to his reputation.

Smart knows there is a psychological aspect that plays into the player-referee dynamic and he was trying to protect and enforce that. Stevens has never been one to yell at officials, choosing rather to keep the harmony and re-insert Smart back into the game at a later time.