Marcus Smart Reveals Punching Picture Frame Nearly Ended His NBA Career

Celtics fans (this one included) have grown in recent years to love and appreciate the inimitable, irresistible force that is Marcus Smart. His relentless defense, bulldog demeanor, and downright scrappy playing style have endeared him to virtually Celtics devotee. However, Smart recently revealed that his career was nearly ended due to that very same ruthlessly competitive attitude.

You might recall that Smart missed 11 games with a mysterious hand injury during the 2017-18 season. However, the severity of this injury had not been revealed until Monday in a podcast interview with ESPN's Zach Lowe.

The injury occurred when Smart plunged his fist into a picture frame following a one-point loss to the Lakers. According to Smart, the surgeon responsible for fixing the injury told him that had the glass from the frame had entered one eighth-inch away from where it did, he may not be playing basketball at all anymore.

"They said it would’ve torn everything in my hand," he said.

How utterly devastating it would have been for the sport to lose such a ferocious competitor to a fluke injury. Thankfully, Marcus is now doing great, helping to lead the Celtics to an 11-4 record. He clearly looks back on the unfortunate incident as a positive learning experience.

To this day, Smart still has pieces of the glass that nearly ended his career embedded in his hand. According to Smart, doctors told him that the glass "would probably be more of a threat of them trying to go and get it than just letting it be in my hand.” Well, perhaps that glass is responsible for Smart's improvements as a shooter (his 3-point percentage rose from 30.1% to 36.4% in 2018-19)! Regardless, we are just happy that Marcus is okay and figuring out how to be the best version of himself.