Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart has not seen action on the court since the second week of January, but he still goes with the team to watch games from the bench.

But despite not being in uniform Monday night when Memphis played against the Sacramento Kings on the road, Smart got ejected from the contest when he argued with a ref just a little bit more passionate than he probably should have in overtime.

Marcus Smart ejected from Grizzlies-Kings game

That was surely one of the strangest ejections at least in recent memory. Smart seemed to be angered by a non-call on a possible foul on the Kings after Grizzlies forward Desmond Bane tried to attack the basket. His frustrations seemingly doubled when the Kings later scored on a Domantas Sabonis dunk that stretched Sacramento's lead to four points.

Smart would love to help the Grizzlies on the court but a torn thumb tendon has prevented him from playing over the last couple of months. There is also not much of a need for the Grizzlies to rush him back, as Memphis is 13 games out of the last Play-in Tournament spot in the Western Conference standings after their 121-111 loss to the Kings and with only exactly 13 games left to play on their regular-season schedule.

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It has been a difficult season for Smart and the Grizzlies. Smart was traded by the Boston Celtics to the Grizzlies via a three-team trade last summer that also involved the Washington Wizards. He was expected to use his experience and prowess on defense to help Memphis, especially during the first 25 games of the season when Ja Morant was serving his lengthy suspension.

Although Smart's first season with the Grizzlies has been problematic both from an individual and team perspective, he and Memphis can rebound in the 2024-25 NBA season. Smart still has two more years on his current contract and is still just 30 years old.

The 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year and three-time NBA All-Defensive Team member could potentially see some action before the end of the regular season, but it's not going to surprise much if the Grizzlies end up shutting him down for the rest of the campaign.