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Marcus Smart Rumors
All NBA Players
Position: G
Born: 03/06/94
Height: 6-4 / 1.93
Weight:225 lbs. / 102.1 kg.
Salary: $11,160,716
Born: 03/06/94
Height: 6-4 / 1.93
Weight:225 lbs. / 102.1 kg.
Salary: $11,160,716
When Marcus Smart used to go to the Celtics locker room at halftime, there was always a text message waiting from his mother, Camellia. If he had missed a free throw during the first half, she would joke that he owed her $100. Other times, she would tell him to keep his focus when she could tell an opponent was irritating him. But most often, the messages were just small reminders that she loved him. Smart would smile and text back that he loved her, too, and then he would go back onto the court and try to take over a game with the tenacity with which he usually takes over games.
Camellia Smart, 63, died on Sept. 16 after battling cancer. Smart said he does not look at his phone at halftime anymore. And when the Celtics face the Knicks Thursday â Camelliaâs birthday â the pain might be a little more piercing. âItâs going to be an emotional day and itâs going to hit me pretty rough, just the simple fact that Iâm used to those texts,â Smart said Wednesday, his eyes welling as he sat in a quiet corner of the practice gym. âWhen I played on her birthday, Iâd send her texts before the game, at halftime, after the game. Itâs going to be tough.â
It is still difficult for him to sleep at night. He either cannot doze off at all, or he wakes up suddenly and cannot go back to bed, usually because he is thinking about his mother. So sometimes he drives to the Celticsâ sparkling new practice facility in Brighton by himself and talks to his mom while he is there. He talks to her as he takes jump shots. He talks to her as he sits in the cold tub or the steam room. He has done this at 2 a.m and 3 a.m. and even 4 a.m. this season. âI tell her how much I love her and miss her, and I just talk about my day and everything thatâs been going on,â Smart said. âIf you donât talk about them out loud, thatâs when they really die.
âItâs really my time for me just to be alone and really grieve on my own,â Smart said. âWith everything that happened, I had to be back in Boston so quickly that I really havenât had enough time to just grieve. It hit me, but it hasnât really hit me. And at moments it hits me, being alone is something that works.â
When Marcus Smart used to go to the Celticsâ locker room at halftime, there was always a text message waiting from his mother, Camellia. If he had missed a free throw during the first half, she would joke that he owed her $100. Other times, she would tell him to keep his focus when she could tell an opponent was irritating him. But most often, the messages were just small reminders that she loved him. Smart would smile and text back that her loved her, too, and then he would go back onto the court and try to take over a basketball game with the tenacity that he usually takes over basketball games with. Camellia Smart, 63, died on Sept. 16 after battling cancer. Marcus Smart said he does not look at his phone at halftime anymore. And when the Celtics face the Knicks on Thursday, Camelliaâs birthday, the pain might be a little more piercing.
