In being a fiery competitor, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart hates to lose.
As such, he was understandably pissed after the Celtics—not to be confused with the Temecula Clippers—blew a 17-point lead in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals and caught an embarrassing 106-101 L on behalf of the Miami Heat.
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After the game, there were various reports that Smart went the entire fuck off on his teammates in the locker room, and now The Athletic has the juicy details:
“Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown had a heated confrontation inside that locker room after the Game 2 loss and needed to be separated by teammates, multiple sources told The Athletic. Smart, who is widely regarded as Boston’s emotional leader, was heard shouting inside the postgame locker room after the Celtics’ loss to Miami.
Sources told The Athletic that Smart stormed into the Celtics postgame locker room saying that other players needed to be held accountable and not simply point the finger toward him when things are going wrong. As Smart continued and his voice grew louder, sources said Brown snapped back and shouted that Celtics players must stay together and that their actions must come as a team, not individually, and that Smart needed to cool off. Those sources added Smart had verbal exchanges with a couple of the assistant coaches during the game.”
Smart was overheard yelling, “Y’all on some bullshit!” when he finally left the locker room, and I ain’t one to gossip, but word on the street is that objects were being tossed around too. (But you ain’t hear that from me.)
For their part, the rest of the team maintained the company line: that frustrations are part of the sport and it’s perfectly normal for teammates to hurl profanities and dishwashers at each other.
“We’re not supposed to be happy we’re down 0-2,” Jayson Tatum told reporters when asked about the altercation. “[It was] nothing out of the ordinary, just talking about the game. It’s cool. Got to get ready for the next one.”
“Guys were emotional after a hard game,” coach Brad Stevens said. “Hard loss.”
“It was nothing,” Kemba Walker said. “It was nothing.”
Smart has yet to address the matter publicly, but Brown did his part to protect his teammate as well.
“That’s why we love him,” he said. “He plays with passion, he’s full of fire, and that’s what I love about him most to be honest. He has that desire and that will, and we need him to continue to have that. [...] Who Marcus is, I love him for it. We’ve got to get ready to come back with that same fire and add it to Game 3.”
Teammates bumping heads isn’t exactly unchartered territory, but if team chemistry has been compromised, this incident is something to be mindful of when the Celtics take the floor against the Heat in Game 3 on Saturday.
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