Marcus Smart Finally Broke His Silence About The Celtics Winning A Championship

Paul Rutherford. Getty Images.

Since the Celtics reached the top of the mountain and became NBA champions, we've heard from pretty much everyone. Current players, past legends, everyone seemed to have weighed in.

The one person we hadn't heard a peep from during the entire playoff run though was Marcus Smart. 

A little more than a year ago right around this time was one of the craziest nights Celts fans had ever experienced. A Woj bomb in the middle of the night talking about a Malcolm Brogdon trade that was going to net them Kristaps Porzingis, then another Woj bomb saying that the deal had fallen apart, followed by another tweet soon after that hit like a shotgun blast to the chest

At the time, we had no idea Jrue Holiday was eventually on the way, so it of course was a pretty emotional moment. One of the strangest things about the post-Smart trade is all this weird revisionist history when it comes to his tenure as a Celtic. I get it, the anti-Smart crowd is always going to do their thing, but these same people don't seem to remember that the Celtics and Smart win a title in 2022 had their best player not disappeared. For example, if the 2022 Celts in the Finals got the 2024 Finals version of Tatum, there's a strong chance they win that title as well.

But this isn't a blog to defend Smart or his tenure or anything like that. I've said my piece on him enough over the years, and there's no denying that the 2024 roster was one of the greatest assembled teams in NBA history. Both things can be true though. Smart was a great Celtic and the 2024 team was an all-time group. Their winning this year doesn't take away from anything in the past, despite what some are hell-bent on saying.

The purpose of this blog is the fact that we've finally heard from Smart and I can't lie, it had me all sorts of emotional. Granted I'm in a bit of a weird state right now given everything that's happened over the last week or so, but I can't help it

I think anyone who has followed this team and Smart since he first became a Celtic never thought he would be salty about this title. Sad that he couldn't be a part of it? I'd bet my life on that. But salty? No way. Not after 9 years of battles with these guys. Not after being there from the beginning and been a part of the process and journey for so long. But in a lot of ways, sometimes to achieve the ultimate goal you have to make sacrifices, and to me, that's what the Smart trade was

There's a part of me that wishes he could have been around for this run given how close the Celts had gotten to a title during his tenure. It's the one aspect of this championship run that kind of stinks. If anyone deserved to finally become a champion as a Celtic, I'd say Marcus Smart is a pretty easy choice. I'd also say the same thing about a guy like Isaiah who was the guy who jumpstarted this entire rebuild as well. They are Celtics legends, and even though they aren't on the team in 2024, they are as much a part of this title as anyone else. 

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That's not me saying it, that's Brad Stevens

That's Joe Mazzulla saying it

and it's true. Every Celtic that came before the 2024 team played a role in this championship in one way or another. Including Marcus Smart