Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart found out online that the Boston Celtics traded him
During a recent interview with Jared Weiss of The Athletic, Marcus Smart revealed the harsh reality of his trade from the Boston Celtics to the Memphis Grizzlies. Having been a franchise leader in Boston for so many years, Smart was not informed by the Celtics that he was being dealt, but instead found out on Twitter.
“If I’m being quite frank, I knew I would be traded eventually,” Smart said. “Just figured it would be the next season, just based off my contract and with the new CBA. We already knew that. But it was just the way it happened.
I was told everything was good after asking multiple times. Like, ‘I’m hearing (rumors), what’s going on?’ And they’re like, ‘No, you’re good, you’re good, you’re good.’ And then when I do hear about the trade, it’s from Shams (Charania) on Twitter before I hear from the team.”
This is the brutal reality of the NBA business, as even franchise leaders like Smart are not always kept in the loop when they’re being included in trade talks. This has been seen several times with players like Smart, and even bigger stars who were blindsided by an unexpected trade.
The NBA is a business, and it’s one the players understand well, but that still does not make it any easier when a trade like this happens out of nowhere.
