Celtics’ Marcus Smart pens account of his tumultuous 2019-20 season

Boston Celtics veteran guard Marcus Smart opened up about his intense 2019-20 season and the life-changing experiences it contained in a recent article.

The NBA and Boston Celtics had arguably the most tumultuous season in the league’s seven-decade history with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March and the nationwide protests for racial justice that broke out in the midst of it this summer.

And veteran Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart was in the driver’s seat for it all.

One of the first and highest-profile NBA players to come down with the viral infection — and one of the first on the streets protesting the killing of George Floyd, which sparked the first wave of those protests, Smart shared his feelings about the most incredulous season of his career in a new piece on The Players’ Tribune.

The Disney restart ‘bubble’ in particular stood out to him as a critical experience shaping his personal growth this season.

“I wasn’t expecting it, but after only four or five days down in Orlando, I realized that the bubble was a blessing, because it gave me the opportunity for some genuine downtime,” shared the Texan defensive specialist.

“Lots of stuff I had to worry about before — family drama, promotional stuff, places I had to be at such and such time — that was all out the window. I could actually just sit there alone and….Think! And it may sound corny or whatever, but over those few months I was really able to step back and take some time to learn more about myself — what I truly care about, what matters most to me.”

“Family, great friends, basketball, that stuff was on my mind, of course,” added Smart. “But I also thought a lot about this moment we’re all living through right now.”

“About my experience with COVID-19, the pandemic as a whole, and the ongoing movement for racial justice in this country — about how all those things overlapped.”

The Oklahoma State product went on to reveal what the lead up to his positive COVID diagnosis was like.

He also spoke of his worries for family — including his 74-year-old father, who also contracted the virus — and the opportunity to help others by donating his plasma after recovering.

Smart also shared how his personal involvement with the racial justice movement came about that saw him protesting Floyd’s killings in the streets of Boston with teammates Vincent Poirier and Enes Kanter.

Smart also discussed several of the unfortunate experiences with overt racism he’s had that have colored his experience of being Black in the United States in the 21st century.

“I was pulling out of the arena parking lot when I saw a white woman with her five- or six-year-old son crossing against the light right as the cars were starting to come at them. I had my windows down and realized something bad was about to happen, so I yelled to her, politely, that she needed to hurry and get out of the street so the two of them wouldn’t get hurt.”

In return, she screamed a racial epithet at Smart for his troubles.

“I think about that kid all the time — and, honestly, now more than ever,” he remarked of that incident.

“Everything about that experience makes me so sad for him. I mean, to openly spew hate like that? In front of a child? It just reminds me that racism is not something you’re born with. It’s taught.”

Take a moment to read this article; it’s a moving account of a difficult topic —

And believe it or not, in spite of everything, Smart remains optimistic about our collective futures.

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