BOSTON – Celtics guard Marcus Smart has shown signs of stardom throughout his first two NBA seasons, and his play has earned him a trip to Toronto to participate in All-Star Weekend a few weeks from now.
The second-year guard was selected to take part in the BBVA Rising Stars Challenge Wednesday afternoon. The exhibition is comprised of the top rookie and sophomore players in the NBA and will take place on Feb. 12 – two days ahead of the All-Star Game.
“It’s a good sign when your young players are invited to do something like that,” C’s coach Brad Stevens said before hosting the Denver Nuggets Wednesday night.
“Especially when they’ve only played half a year,” he added.
Smart missed more than a month – from Nov. 22 to Dec. 27 – with a lower left leg injury. He admitted before Wednesday’s game that he was surprised that he was chosen to participate in the event based on his substantial absence. It’s been clear, however, that when Smart is healthy, he is a high-impact player in many capacities.
During his rookie season, Smart’s high-quality play and leadership earned him a starting role for the C’s. He was the only first-year player to start a playoff game last season (he started three).
And from there, he has only improved.
Smart has seen upward spikes in every statistical category this season, with the exception of his shooting percentage from the field and beyond the 3-point arc.
The 21-year-old is averaging 9.2 points per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, and is tied for second among second-year players with 3.2 assists per game. His most notable strengths lie on the defensive side of the ball; he’s leading all NBA sophomores with 1.7 steals per game.
“It’s hard to impact the league as a young player and if you have any impact at all, then that’s probably a positive sign,” said Stevens. “There’s a lot of young players that haven’t gotten their opportunity yet that are really going to have great careers and we’re all just going to have to wait and see, but to have an impact early is pretty impressive.”
When asked of his thoughts on earning the trip to Toronto, Smart remained modest, as usual, and instead set his focus to the current task at hand.
“It’s a good feeling [to be selected], obviously,” Smart said exactly an hour before Wednesday’s tip-off. “But that’s not my main focus right now; we’ve got a game tonight and we’re trying to increase our win streak and keep improving as a team.”
Smart and the Celtics will look to extend their winning streak to a season-high-tying four games tonight, when they tip off against the Nuggets (17-28) at 7:30 p.m.
– Taylor C. Snow
