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Benjamin Royer: Marcus Smart on the win: “It shows that we're willing to get in the trenches and grind it out, which we probably couldn't say for us a couple of months ago. … And that's what we're showing. We want to show we can get in those trenches. We can do the dirty things to help us win.”
Marcus Smart punched at a picture frame in his room and, this time, he didn't miss, shattering the glass and leaving a 5-inch shard wedged inside the flesh of his palm. "I got rushed to the ER and lost a lot of blood," Smart told ESPN. "I passed out. ... That's how much I lost." When he regained consciousness, after receiving 20 stitches, Smart realized the severity of his wound. "The doctor looked at me in my eye and told me, 'I don't know how you still have use of your right hand,'" Smart said. "'You should honestly be thanking God every day.'"
In January 2024, he ruptured a tendon in his proximal interphalangeal joint -- where the finger bends -- ending his season. "I've had two dislocations with torn ligaments in two of the fingers," Smart said. "I've had glass in my hand. I've torn ligaments on my right thumb and had surgery there. I dislocated four out of my five fingers in total ... my whole right hand just has been through a lot. So to be honest, I'm blessed to even have my right hand. For six years after the incident with the glass, I still had glass in my hand and I played with it. And there would be times where because of that, my hand would go numb. A lot of times, a lot of games, I couldn't control it. I had to play and there were a lot of times when I'm shooting the ball and just, I had no feeling in the arm, the hand."
After an ankle injury sidelined him for two weeks, Smart returned and Memphis went 10-2 in its next 12 games before he suffered a partial tear of the proximal extensor hood of his right index finger. Around this time, Smart says, he felt a shift in how the Grizzlies organization treated him. He says he felt pressured to play through it. "I wanted to be 100%, to give everything I got," Smart said. "As I'm still working out and getting ready, they're just like, 'No, your doctor said you're ready now.' And I'm like, 'I hear what my doctor said, but ... it's how I feel. Yes, surgically the finger is fine. But physically, no. The finger is still weak. I'm still strengthening it. This is my dominant hand.' So, they didn't want to hear it and they just kept saying, 'You need to play.'"
Law Murray: LeBron James and Marcus Smart are available for Saturday vs Nuggets Jaxson Hayes (back) probably is as well Maxi Kleber (back) is out
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Dave McMenamin: JJ Redick says the team hopes to have Marcus Smart (hip) available against Denver on Saturday. He added that Jaxson Hayes received imaging on his back, and the team is awaiting results. And that Maxi Kleber will miss some more time as he deals with his recurring lumbar issue
Dave McMenamin: Jaxson Hayes (back soreness), Maxi Kleber (lumbar back strain) and Marcus Smart (right hip contusion) are out tonight vs. CHI, per the Lakers. LeBron James (left foot arthritis, right hip contusion) remains questionable.
Law Murray: Lakers report that Marcus Smart (hip) is doubtful for tomorrow vs Bulls Jaxson Hayes (back) is probable and Maxi Kleber (back) is questionable LeBron James (hip) is also questionable
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Memphis has been sensationally branded as the city with the 'ugliest' fans in the NBA by Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart. The 31-year-old defensive specialist, who spent a tumultuous season in Memphis before being traded, didn't hold back during a recent interview on NBAT2. When asked to name the city with the least attractive fanbase in the league, Smart pointed directly at Memphis despite his previous ties to the organization. 'Memphis,' Smart said bluntly. 'And I feel bad for 'em because Memphis is for the people. But this ain't it.'
Next up for the Lakers are the Golden State Warriors in San Francisco on Saturday. It’s another opportunity for the Lakers to move on from disappointment. “The only way to get out of it is to keep playing,” Marcus Smart said. “Like I said earlier, you can’t get too high, too low. That’s when the snowball effect happens. We’re still in good shape. “We got to continue to trust and we can’t allow games like this to deter us from trusting in each other and trusting the way that we play. ... It hurts. But like I said, we get to go out and redeem our stuff and we got to make up for it.”
Marcus Smart, who also signed with L.A. as a free agent last summer and whose locker is situated next to Ayton's, acknowledged the room for growth. "I think he's done OK," Smart said this week. "He definitely could be better, we all could. But the thing I love about it is he understands it and he's working. We all are trying to figure it out; this is new to everybody. He's doing his best, but he understands it's another notch that we need him to go to, and we're going to try to get him there and help with that. But he knows he's got to do his part as well."
