Struggling on sideline
‘Mentor’ role no Smart thing
PHOENIX — Marcus Smart has maintained a quiet presence on this trip, hunched over at his locker and scrolling through his iPhone. While teammates go about their game-night preparation, he’s sitting on the end of the bench in street clothes, watching practices and shootarounds from the side.
But he’s resolute. “I’ve always been told that when you see a rainbow, it has to rain first,” said the Celtics guard. “This is my rain, my storm that I have to get through in order to get to that rainbow.”
It’s better to be included in team activities, as Smart knows, because he’s been on the other side, stuck in Boston rehabbing from an injury while his team is on the road.
And he hates it.
“I love basketball. It’s hard not being able to play, but it would be even harder for me just sitting at home and really not get a sense of touch or feeling the beat of it,” said the Celtics guard. “Me coming out here keeps me from going crazy. I know what it’s like the other way, and it’s not a good feeling.”
So Smart’s presence on this trip pays a dual benefit. He’s here for the young guys — everyone from the surging Terry Rozier to Jabari Bird — acting as an additional coach and offering advice in game-time situations.
But there’s also the matter of his own mental wellbeing, and not going stir crazy in the solitude of the Celtics’ Waltham practice facility.
“It’s big. If (Daniel) Theis could, he would be here as well,” Smart said of the German forward, who is recovering from knee surgery.
“But it’s important because we have a lot of young guys, a lot of firsttimers. Rookies are out there, so for me to be here in that aspect to help those guys out is big. Brad (Stevens) and his coaching staff hear what I have to give out in instruction and the things I see. I’ve been in this league for a long time, so that’s important.”
And while Smart works on his coaching techniques, he can stop staring at the cast on his right hand — the result of surgery to repair a torn ligament in his thumb.
Smart isn’t expected back unless the Celtics reach the second round of the playoffs, with Kyrie Irving’s return from minor knee surgery pegged to happen at approximately the same time.
Stevens, dealing with the fuzzy timetables of both players, stressed Sunday in Sacramento that no one truly knows if both players will rejoin the team in the playoffs.
“We hope. Who knows? Marcus was 6-8 weeks before basketball activity and Kyrie is 3-6 before basketball activity,” said the Celtics coach. “Again, that’s basketball activity. There’s a big difference between that and playing, so we don’t know when we’re going to have those guys back.”
Smart’s hand prevents him from doing anything that involves an actual basketball. He’s not precluded, however, from working on his conditioning. Smart put an emphasis on changing his diet and losing weight last summer. He’s not about to change that now.
“You just try to maintain some type of shape, keep your wind up, cardio, make sure you keep the weight down, because this is the kind of time when people get hurt,” said Smart, who has little or no doubt that he’ll be back in uniform this season.
“Pretty confident. You’re very optimistic about it,” he said. “Talking with the doctors, 6-8 weeks seemed like something they were real confident about it. To hear her say that and be so reassuring about it, was reassuring for me.”
Smart needed some reassurance after one of the most tumultuous seasons of his career, starting with the Celtics’ decision not to extend his rookie contract last fall, though management still has the right to match any offer for him in restricted free agency.
Then came a self-inflicted 20-stitch gash in his right hand after punching a hotel picture frame in Los Angeles in January. And now this.
“How it goes, how it works,” said Smart. “Coming up on the biggest years of my career, so it was kind of fitting that you get hit with some big obstacles. Your willpower gets even stronger as a player and a competitor, and in terms of the person you are.”