Marcus Smart Lost 20 Pounds This Summer

Celtics guard Marcus Smart has “been in the gym non-stop,” and shed twenty pounds during the offseason.

Smart hired a personal chef this summer, and says he’s never felt more explosive.

With a drastically different-looking team heading into next season, the 23-year-old is being counted on to assume more responsibility in Boston.

Per the Boston Globe:

“I’ve been in the gym nonstop, been eating right, making sure my body’s right,” Smart said on Wednesday during a visit to Floating Hospital for Children at Tufts Medical Center.

 

“It’s a different me. I’m more explosive and I’m healthy,” Smart said. “That’s a big part for me. I had to get on my plan. I’m really focused and I locked in this summer.”

 

Once [Danny] Ainge dealt Avery Bradley, the team’s best on-ball defender, to the Detroit Pistons in July, it made Smart the longest-tenured Celtics player on the roster. In that same week, just before the Celtics dealt Bradley, forward Gordon Hayward announced he was signing with the team. Later in the summer, Ainge made the blockbuster deal for point guard Kyrie Irving in exchange for Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, Boston’s 2018 first-round pick and, later, Miami’s 2020 second-round pick, to finalize the deal.

 

“I’ve really been working on my game and getting ready for a larger role,” Smart said. “The Celtics expect me to take that on and be ready, so I’m ready for whatever. I’ve talked numerous times to Danny and Brad, before anything happened, even just during the season . . . be ready to take on that role. And now it’s put into reality. We don’t have Avery, we don’t have Jae, a lot of responsibility is on my shoulders.”