Marcus Smart just put himself in the hate list of many Atlanta Hawks fans as he seemingly tried stepping over Trae Young after the Boston Celtics pulled off a narrow 109-106 victory.
However, the guard tried to clear the air and explained that he actually didn't intend to disrespect the guard with his actions. He effectively claimed that he was simply trying to get to one spot and the young Hawks star was simply in the way.
Moreover, Smart added more details that only added fuel to the fire: he insinuated that Young actually elbowed him earlier in the game, setting the entire stepping-over-Young debacle as an equalizer for his earlier sins.
The Athletic's Jay King tweeted about the Smart's funnily absurd defense:
Marcus Smart said the step over Trae Young wasn’t meant to disrespect. Pretty clear Young took offense to it.
Smart: “He probably did. I got mad at him when he elbowed me in my face too so there we go.”
— Jay King (@ByJayKing) January 4, 2020
It's definitely bizarre that Marcus Smart washed his hands off the actions he did. However, he cannot deny that he definitely deserved his technical for trying to pull off the 2019 edition of the Allen Iverson step-over.
There was plenty of space he could have gone to if he was genuine about his statement that he just wanted to go to a spot that Young was blocking. His action was an obvious taunt to the sophomore point guard, so it's understandable why Alex Len immediately rushed to the side of his star guard.
Young had a solid game in spite of the loss. He finished the night with 28 points, five rebounds, and 10 assists as he helped the Hawks lead by as much as 18 points in the first half. However, the Celtics bounced back to finish the game on top. Smart himself had a solid night, notching a superb stat line of 15 points, six rebounds, nine assists, three steals, and two blocks.
Expect the next game between the two to be extra fiery as Young will try to one-up Smart for his revenge.
Follow Us
Subscribe