Marcus Smart was hurt by his trade from the Boston Celtics. Just like everyone else. Well presumably outside of the Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Lakers fanbases.
After his return to the TD Garden for the first time since his departure from the team last June, a 131-91 blowout win over the Grizzlies that may as well have been over in the first half and that didn't feature No. 36 on either side due to recent finger surgery, Smart explained where exactly the hurt came from.
“I understand business and I understand this business, and I tell people to this day if it was me I would make the same business decision as well,” Smart said (h/t Boston.com). “All I ask was that they could have given me a heads up or just a simple, ‘Hey, being here nine years, we just want to let you know this is what’s going on.’ Perfect. At the end of the day I’m a businessman as well. So that’s what it was, (where) the hurt really came from.”
Marcus Smart holds no ill will towards Boston Celtics organization
Smart is hurt, but he's not vengeful towards the Celtics organization in any way. At the Celtics-Grizzlies postgame presser, Smart revealed that he holds no ill will as it pertains to those who traded him without any prior warning -- and he's even cheering for his former team.
“I was able to keep my mind off of it,” Smart said. “There’s no ill will towards the organization, towards my teammates, towards the coaching staff. I love everybody. And I’m thankful to have had an opportunity to play with those guys.”
“I mean, when you come that close and then you have to leave this. Anybody in this position would definitely — it would be hard to try to wrap your head around it. But at the end of the day, like I said, it doesn’t stop how I feel about good guys. And just as much as I think I deserve it, they deserve it as much as well. So that’s why I say I am ecstatic for those guys, because they work just as hard and they deserve it just as much as I do.”
Luckily, no one is vengeful either in Boston. Well, no one with a valid opinion anyway.