Hot take or not: The Boston Celtics defense can dominate – but only with Robert Williams III

Even after Smart won 2022 DPOY, questions about whether he is even the most impactful defender on his own team persist.

Even after seeing Boston Celtics veteran point guard Marcus Smart win the 2022 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award, questions about whether the Flower Mound native is even the most important defender on his own team persist.

To be fair, until he injured his knee late in the 2021-22 season, teammate Robert Williams III was also in the running for the coveted defensive hardware. But his torn meniscus took him out of the running and cleared a path for Smart to be the first guard to win the award since Gary Payton Sr. in the 1990s. So after Boston’s middling defensive start to the 2022-23 NBA season sans Timelord, is it a hot take to say the Celtics’ defense can dominate — but only with Williams back in the fold?

Bleacher Report’s Zach Buckley recently made the case.