To quote Bill Belichick, "stats are for losers" and I will add to that my own flair by saying that "individual awards in sports are also mostly useless." That is until they are won by somebody on your favorite team and more importantly, they go against the grain in terms of who typically takes home said award. This afternoon, Celtics guard Marcus Smart was named the NBA's Defensive Player of The Year for the 2021-22 regular season. In doing so, he became the first guard to win the award-that is typically dominated by big men-since Hall of Famer and former Celtics legend Gary Payton in 1996. Another Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett is the only other Celtic to win the award (which has been around since 1982), way back in 2008.
If you follow the Celtics even casually, you probably know that Smart has been perhaps the most polarizing guy in Boston sports that I can ever remember in my lifetime. You either love him or you hate him, there really is no in between. He's the longest tenured Celtic-now in his eighth season here-and his journey has been nothing short of a roller coaster both on and off the court. He's had numerous tantrums, dumb plays and costly mistakes while also being the subject of near constant trade rumors but despite it all, he finally put together a complete season both physically and emotionally. He is the king of making an incredible play on one end of the floor (usually defensively) then making you scream in anger at the TV or in person at the game when he jacks up a ridiculous 3-pointer or flopping like a clown on the other end.
Smart has always possessed the ability to be a really good player in the league, after all he was the No. 6 pick out of Oklahoma State in 2014 for a reason. He will never be considered a great 3-point shooter or very polished offensive player in general but he makes (cliche alert!) winning plays that help Boston win basketball games. He dives on the floor and makes the hero plays that most of the millionaires in the NBA couldn't be bothered to attempt these days. At 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds he's big and strong enough to matchup with almost any other top offensive player in the game. This season he averaged 12.1 points per game, 5.9 assists per game, 3.8 rebounds per game and 1.7 steals per game in the regular season. All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown will get most of the headlines but if the C's are going to make any real noise in the playoffs this spring, they'll need Smart to be at his annoying best. Haha if anything, this special recognition should only boost his already limitless and irrational confidence.
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