Kemba Walker has quickly gained some massive respect for new teammate Marcus Smart, claiming his Boston Celtics backcourt mate is much bigger than his height indicates.
“I always say he’s like a little big man,” Walker said of Smart, according to Jay King of The Athletic.
Head coach Brad Stevens had even further praise, saying Smart should be on the All-Defensive team every year, noting that the years he doesn’t make it “devalidates” the award.
Smart has been a defensive MVP all season long, taking on bigger and stronger opponents without hesitation and stepping up on the offensive side of the ball as well. The Oklahoma State standout is also shooting 39% from deep, by far a career high — making him all the more valuable as a three-and-D threat.
Walker and Smart started to mesh early as teammates for Team USA. That chemistry has quickly carried onto the season, and Smart's defensive affinity has also stuck to Walker, who is playing the best defense of his career upon joining Boston.
Smart deserves major respect as the defensive stalwart of the team, but so do the rest of his teammates that have joined him and made the Celtics a strong defensive team. The likes of Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum, and Daniel Theis have also improved defensively — making them a well-organized orchestra of mayhem, holding their opponents to 103.1 points per 100 possessions — good for 12th in the league.
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