Marcus Smart has concerning revelation about 2018 glass-punching injury

Jan 28, 2022; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (36) dribbles against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Marcus Smart is making a troubling revelation about his infamous injury from five years ago.

The Boston Celtics guard Smart told reporters in a recent interview that he still plays with some glass in his hand as a result of the 2018 incident where he punched a picture frame.

“Ever since the picture frame incident … [I] still have some glass in there,” said Smart, per Adam Taylor of CelticsBlog. “[They] said it would probably cause more problems to take the glass out, so they just left it in. So I still have glass in my hand. Sometimes I can’t feel my hand, but it comes back.”

The 28-year-old Smart hurt himself in Jan. 2018 when he angrily punched at a picture frame on the wall of his hotel. Even more bizarre is that the reported reason why Smart got upset was a non-basketball one. Smart ultimately missed a little over a month of action because of the injury.

The glass remnants have not prevented Smart from playing at a high level in recent years. He was the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year last season and helped lead the Celtics to the 2022 NBA Finals (their first Finals appearance in nearly a decade-and-a-half). Smart also continues to cash his three-point shots at a solid rate (34.1 percent over the five seasons since his hand injury as opposed to 29.3 percent over the previous four).

But Smart, who admitted that the glass still affects him from time to time, may have reason to worry about it as he gets older. For now though, Smart, who is in the first year of a new four-year, $77.1 million extension with the Celtics, will just have to continue managing the issue.