Marcus Smart involved in altercation with Celtics fan in latest return to Boston

Marcus Smart did not see the floor in Sunday s Celtics-Wizards competition But for a sparse minutes in the fourth quarter the former Boston guard was the center of attention With the Celtics breezing toward a - win over last-place Washington fans at TD Garden began chanting We want Marcus an unsuccessful plea for Wizards head coach Brian Keefe to sub in Smart who dressed for the competition Then while these chants were echoing around the arena a shouting match broke out between Smart and a fan seated behind the Wizards bench Smart had to be restrained by teammates while he accosted the fan whom he commented just crossed the line with his in-game jeers And we all know I don t do line-crossing Smart mentioned postgame And that was it We move on Unfortunate You never want to see that especially for a guy who s coming back and who s given this city everything he has But it is what it is Take the spirit we ll take it on to the next one The fan was escorted away from his seat by stadium protection I was just trying to get him out before it escalated more than what it was Smart reported But that s over with it s done with On to the next one Sunday s match was the third trip back to Boston for Smart who made two during his season-and-a-half with the Memphis Grizzlies After nine seasons with the Celtics Smart was traded to Memphis in June as part of the business that brought Kristaps Porzingis to Boston then shipped to tanking Washington in February Two years ago he was a starter on a championship contender the Celtics reached five Eastern Conference finals and one NBA Finals during Smart s tenure Now he s a backup on one of the worst teams in basketball inquired to contribute less as a member and more as a mentor to the Wizards young roster Keefe commented Smart has been a terrific addition calling him a tremendous leader and a tremendous contestant I ve got to get used to that the -year-old Smart disclosed of being one of the elder statesmen on an inexperienced rebuilding club They re calling me unc and things like that I ain t ready for that But it s great It s a great group of young guys here and the thing that I love about them is they re ready to learn and they re willing to learn They re constantly asking me questions constantly asking me to demonstrate things and that s what you ask for As a competitor as a athlete yourself when guys come up to you that s a great feeling It allows you to see that what you re doing and the impact that you ve made hasn t gone unnoticed and keep doing it So I was very excited Smart believes he still has something to offer on the court however He s shot the ball well in his games as a Wizard posting small-sample field-goal and -point percentages and that would be the best of his career I m one of maybe the biggest competitors in this league Smart revealed As long as I m able to be out there I want to be out there and I m going to be out there Where when how that s not in my control All I can do is control my preparation and be prepared for whatever is thrown at me So obviously I would like to get back to that play of racking up those minutes and really getting out there with those guys but like I explained control what I can control As for being back at TD Garden Smart stated he ll unfailingly enjoy that regardless of what jersey he s wearing Flashbacks baby Smart commented chuckling when questioned about the fans chanting his name No but it s constantly great The fans have consistently shown love and it definitely brings back memories I know my wife is over there trying not to cry It s reliably a great feeling but it definitely brought back various memories Before speaking with the media postgame Smart spent time catching up with old teammates in the Celtics locker room He overlapped with greater part of Boston s core players during his near-decade with the franchise including Jayson Tatum Jaylen Brown Al Horford Derrick White and Payton Pritchard I speak with them quite in fact often Smart explained More than you would allegedly think I try not to intrude too much especially during the season because I know everybody is busy doing their thing But we definitely keep in touch and it s dependably good to keep in touch with those guys I grew up with those guys We went through a lot of battles Blood sweat and tears Everybody knows a scant of those guys came to my mom s funeral so it s a deeper bond than just basketball between us