The Boston Celtics have suspended defenseman Marcus Smart for the team’s last preseason match, which is slated for Friday against the Miami Heat.
Shams Charania of The Athletic shared the details.
ESPN’s Adrian Voinarovski and The Boston Herald’s Mark Murphy updated this afternoon.
With Kemba Walker leaving the offseason, Smart is expected to split the Celtics. starting backcourt duties with rookie Dennis Schroeder. Smart dialing career last season on points (13.1), assists (5.7) and minutes per game (32.9) in 48 competitions, including 45 starts.
Smart is also one of the best defenders in the NBA, with an average of 1.3 steals per game in each of his first seven pro seasons and an average of 1.6 steals per competition in 449 career games. The 27-year-old finished third in the league in interceptions during the 2018-2019 campaign with 143 goals and won NBA Hustle Award in the same year.
In addition, Smart is a two-time NBA first-team defender, gaining recognition in 2019 and 2020.
The Celtics will open their 2021-2022 regular season against Walker and the Knicks at 7:30 pm ET Wednesday.
Victor Barbosa is a passionate follower of MLB, NBA and NFL with a particular interest in Boston teams. As a kid in the 90s, he knows how spoiled he was, especially during the BoSox championships (he grew up with a dog named Nomar and a cat named Big Papi). He now lives with his fiancée and two puppies (Hershey and Mosby) outside Albany, New York. Follow Victor on Twitter: @ vbarbosa1127…