Marcus Smart called out his Boston Celtics teammates in very public fashion this week, and Brad Stevens wishes he would have handled it differently.
Appearing this week on 98.5 The Sports Hub’s “Toucher and Rich,” the Celtics president Stevens addressed Smart’s recent critical remarks about the team. He said that he would have preferred it if Smart had made those comments directly to the players involved instead of going to the media.
“I think any time you have things to say, you say it to the person or people,” said Stevens, per Brian Robb of MassLive. “Whether they’re right wrong or whatever, you say it directly to the person. I think it’s important — you have to be willing to have difficult conversations and put your name on it. The validity of the comments aren’t as important as, we have to be able to sit face-to-face and say, ‘OK, we all want to win. How do we find solutions because we were sitting at 2-5 on Monday?’
“Was it ideal? No. Was it the right thing at the right time? Probably not,” Stevens went on. “But at the end of the day, it’s how you respond. You got to sit with those guys. You gotta go out face-to-face with those guys.”
After an embarrassing collapse against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, Smart publicly called out star teammates Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown for not passing the ball enough. After his comments, the Celtics held a players-only meeting to clear the air.
Smart’s public call-out appears to have worked for the time being. The Celtics went on to blow out the Eastern Conference-best Miami Heat on Thursdyay by a 95-78 final. But for a still-sub-.500 team under first-year head coach Ime Udoka, you can see why Stevens would have preferred a different approach.
Photo: Aug 4, 2020; Lake Buena Vista, Florida, USA; Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) warms up before the first half of a NBA basketball game at the Visa Athletic Center in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
