Marcus Smart’s Blunt Message Regarding Ja Morant, Grizzlies
Marcus Smart’s Blunt Message Regarding Ja Morant, Grizzlies
Marcus Smart was traded by the Boston Celtics to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this month.
It was a surprising move, given that Smart has consistently been recognized as the Celtics’ defensive stalwart and emotional leader.
Smart himself expressed shock at how abruptly Boston cut ties with him. He even suggested that the organization lied to him regarding the move.
In any case, Smart is a member of the Grizzlies now – and this week he spoke fairly bluntly about his potential influence on team star Ja Morant.
“I love to push guys to their limit. Especially a guy who is great. I’ve done it over in Boston… those are my brothers.”
Marcus Smart talks importance of building a relationship with Ja Morant while he serves out his suspension pic.twitter.com/nWytWk0Gad
— Celtics on NBC Sports Boston (@NBCSCeltics) July 7, 2023
“Ja is a very special player, he’s very important to this team,” Smart said.
“For us to do anything great, we’re going to need Ja… As a competitor, I love to push guys to their limit… I’ve done it over in Boston… I want to be able to have that same relationship with Ja. Like I said, he’s a great player and we’re going to need him to do what we want to do.”
Smart’s propensity for pushing his guys comes with its own fair share of positives and negatives. A couple of his star teammates on the Celtics didn’t love that aspect of his personality.
Nevertheless, given Morant’s many off-the-court troubles, perhaps Smart’s unique brand of leadership is precisely what he will end up needing.
Luka is having himself quite the weekend. https://t.co/CPDJoX8aSu
— Game 7 (@game7__) July 8, 2023
And frankly, in light of Morant’s sister’s recent wild video, hopefully Smart can have a positive impact on the entire Morant clan.
What sort of influence will Smart ultimately end up having on Morant and the Grizzlies when it’s all said and done? Time will tell.
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Jennifer Withers Hoey is a former Business Development Manager who transitioned to writing about sports. With valuable connections all over the West Coast, she has used those contacts to break some of the most interesting stories pertaining to the Portland Trail Blazers, Oregon Ducks, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Seattle Supersonics (RIP), and more.
