Boston Celtics combo guard Marcus Smart says point guard Kemba Walker is “actually a really good defensive player.”

Smart says he didn't know Walker could play high-level defense, but admits the three-time All-Star wasn't able to with the Charlotte Hornets since he had to use so much energy on offense to keep the Hornets in games.

On the Celtics, Walker will have a lot of help on offense, which means he'll be able to exert energy on defense and be a pest against opposing point guards:

“For me, I’ve noticed that Kemba can really play defense when he wants to do it,” Smart said and then laughed, via Sekou Smith of NBA.com. “You know it’s tough, when you see how much energy he had to exert on the offensive end [in Charlotte], but he’s actually a really good defensive player, especially at his size. You find out that the little guys are usually more feisty and tenacious.

“But he can play defense and you didn’t really see that or notice that because he had so much of a load on him offensively that it was probably harder for him to do that.”

Let's be real, though. The Celtics didn't sign Kemba Walker for his defense. The explosive guard is one of the best scorers in the game and will be asked to lead Boston to places Kyrie Irving wasn't able to take them.

Walker has career averages of 19.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists in 605 games. He put up 25.6 points and 5.9 assists per game last season with the Hornets.

The Celtics can't wait to see how Walker, Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart are going to look together on the court next season.