Celtics’ Jaylen Brown Admits He ‘Couldn’t Stand’ Marcus Smart at First
The trade sending Marcus Smart from the Celtics to the Grizzlies brought mixed emotions to many Boston fans. Smart had been a core piece of the team’s success and the deal split up the previous trio of Smart, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
On Sunday, ahead of Boston’s first matchup with Smart’s new team, Brown spoke about his relationship with his former teammate. The Celtics’ guard even admitted he “couldn’t stand” Smart at first.
“I couldn’t stand Marcus at first... and I love him now... you grow and mature as young men and you learn things about people ... But me and Marcus, we didn’t start off great. I wasn’t the biggest fan of Marcus when I first got to Boston,” Brown told John Karalis of Boston Sports Journal.
Smart and Brown were Celtics teammates from 2016 to ’23.
Trevor Ruszkowski/USA TODAY Sports
For good measure, when discussing the reasoning behind why, Brown explained how he realized that he was wrong about his initial feelings on Smart, per Karalis.
“A plethora of reasons. You name it. But over time I realized that me and Marcus have similar spirits. And if I was going to war with anybody, Marcus would be one of my first phone calls.”
While the Celtics and Grizzlies are set to square off, Smart will not take part in the game after suffering a left foot sprain that will sideline him for 3-5 weeks.
