The Boston Celtics have recently traded point guard Marcus Smart to the Memphis Grizzlies to allow Kristaps Porziņģis on their team, a move former Celtics player Bob Cousy doesn’t necessarily agree with.
Cousy, who played point guard for the Celtics from 1950 to 1963, spoke with the Boston Globe and criticized Smart’s skills as a point guard but acknowledged he was an overall incredible player.
“I like Smart,” Cousy told the outlet. “I didn’t like some of the things he did. He thought he was a point guard when he was not. His mind was more to create opportunities for himself. In my judgment, point guards have to come across midcourt thinking, ‘How am I going to set one of the other guys up?’ That was never his thing.”
Despite his disapproval of Smart playing as a point guard, Cousy admitted that Smart is a great player for the team.
“But with that said, I would always have him in the game because he does so much more,” Cousy continued. “He does intangible things. With guys who played with his intensity, you just can’t measure the effect that has on the other four people. So, I could have been reluctant to let him go.”
The Grizzlies announced Smart joined their team Friday, June 23.
grit grind. the remix 🗣️
welcome to the M @smart_MS3 pic.twitter.com/6grB5Ywq2u
— Memphis Grizzlies (@memgrizz) June 23, 2023
That same day, Smart took to Twitter to express the difficulty of saying goodbye to the Celtics in a statement.
“Boston, you are a very special place to me,” he wrote. “I grew up here and met some of my best friends here. I’ll never forget my time here. Ultimately, we didn’t get that 18th banner, but I’m VERY, VERY proud of the success we had. I’m going to miss so many things about Boston but mainly my teammates, fans and kids and our hospital charity work. It was a great nine years, Boston.”
He concluded, “I can’t wait to get to Memphis and get started.”
Goodbyes are hard.
But the future is exciting. pic.twitter.com/hULgrVXkmi— marcus smart (@smart_MS3) June 23, 2023
