Marcus Smart Pens Emotional Goodbye to Boston After His Trade to Memphis

• Marcus Smart has bid Boston Celtics fans goodbye after his trade to the Memphis Grizzlies
• Smart played his entire career with the Celtics after entering the league in 2014
• Smart was part of a three-team deal that brought Kristaps Porziņģis to Boston

Marcus Smart has bid his final goodbye to Boston Celtics fans after his trade to the Memphis Grizzlies. The 29-year-old called Boston a very special place where he played all his NBA career.

The Celtics moved the 29-year-old guard as part of a three-team deal that brought big man Kristaps Porziņģis from the Washington Wizards.

The Celtics drafted smart with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft and grew into a defensive specialist and the heart and soul of the team that made several trips deep into the postseason.

He was named the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year as the Celtics reached its first NBA Finals since 2010. Smart and the 17-time NBA champions fell short, losing in six games to the Golden State Warriors, per Fox News.

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Smart's farewell to Boston

For the first time since the trade, Smart bid farewell to Celtics fans following his nine successful years in the city.

“I came to Boston as a naive kid from Dallas not really knowing what to expect,” he wrote on Twitter. “All I knew was the type of work ethic my momma instilled in me and I was going to work my a-- off and make sure I EARNED the respect of each and every one of the fans in Boston,” via Sports Illustrated.

Smart joins a Memphis Grizzlies team in desperate need of veteran leadership after a turbulent 2022/23 season that culminated in a six-game series loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first round of the NBA postseason.

Grizzlies superstar Ja Morant had serious off-court issues, which saw him get a 25-game suspension in the 2003/24 season. Dillon Brooks also distracted the team with his antics.

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Tatum says goodbye to Smart

Sports Brief earlier reported on Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum saying goodbye to Smart through his Instagram.

Tatum has been with Smart since he entered the NBA out of Duke in 2017. Tatum shared a touching message on his Instagram as the trade was finalized.

“My dawg. Forever grateful for you and how you pushed me and helped me along this journey. Never change keep being you, one of a kind can never be replaced! My brotha for life. We gone link back up one day and get us one no doubt about that! Until then, Much love Brodie!”