For once, Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart is going to let someone else stand in the spotlight.
No stranger to speaking his own mind both on and off the court, Smart was asked about his constant foul trouble and if he had any concerns with the state of refereeing in the league.
He declined to comment directly, instead implying that he would let the viral post-game interview of Toronto Raptors guard Fred VanVleet eviscerating NBA referee Ben Taylor do all the talking.
"I don't know if you guys seen the Fred VanVleet thing, but that's all I'm going to say," Smart told reporters. "Obviously it lets you know I'm not speaking out of my butt and I'm not the only one that feels that way, so I'm gonna let Fred do all the talking."
VanVleet's comments came after he was handed a technical foul by Taylor in the third quarter of a loss to the Clippers.
"I'll take a fine, I don't care. I thought Ben Taylor was f----g terrible tonight. I thought that on most nights, out of the three, there's one or two that just f--k the game up, you know," VanVleet said. "It's been like that a couple of games in a row. Denver was tough obviously. We come out tonight competing pretty hard and then in the third quarter I get a bulls--t tech. Changes the whole dynamic of the game, changed the whole flow of the game."
The day after VanVleet's tirade, Smart was asked if he too had ever had a referee directly target him, just as VanVleet claimed was the situation with Taylor. And while the Celtics guard didn't single any official out directly, he feels like it has happened, but also understands why it does.
"In my nine years I have definitely had where I felt like officials had a personal vendetta," Smart explained. "They are humans too and they have bad days just like we do. It's only fair to notice and have empathy to the fact that you know, sometimes they are going to let their emotions get the best of them."
And while he understands refereeing can be a difficult job, Smart just wants to know what to expect from officials on a nightly basis.
"As players we just want that consistency," Smart said. "You know we get emotional too. But for us, we get in trouble for it. We just want that consistency around, and that's it."
However, after opening up briefly, Smart still seemed more than happy to fully defer to VanVleet in this instance.
"But like I said, I am going to let Fred do all my talking from here on out."
