Marcus Smart looks back at racist experience with Celtics fan outside TD Garden

With the 2019-20 NBA season wrapped up, players are sharing experiences at the Orlando bubble at Walt Disney World, where the players had to stay for months. While one aim was to successfully complete the NBA season, players took the opportunity to support the Black Lives Matter movement sparked by George Floyd's death in May. Throughout their stay, the players did their best to raise their voice against social injustice, using their platform to raise awareness. 

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Marcus Smart racism experience with Celtics fan outside TD Garden

"I wasn't a person to this woman. I was a form of entertainment. Nothing more."

—@smart_MS3 recounts an interaction with a Celtics fan and shares his thoughts on the country's future (via @PlayersTribune) pic.twitter.com/Z7XgN3vDoT

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA)

With BLM playing such a big role in the NBA restart, Boston Celtics star Marcus Smart wrote about racism and his own racist experience in his Players Tribune essay. The incident Smart described happened a few years ago, where a woman threw racial slurs at the 26-year-old guard outside the Celtics' home TD Garden. He even shared an incident with a police officer, who ended up ranting about Colin Kaepernick's decision to kneel during the national anthem. 

Also read | Marcus Smart confirms testing positive for COVID-19 through Twitter video

According to the Celtics star, he has been pulled over by a cop multiple times solely due to his window tint. "I felt like that officer was looking for me to challenge him, or to respond in a way that would allow him to take some action against me," Smart wrote He added that he kept calm during the incident, hoping that the outcome was not bad while asking "Is that all, officer?" over and over again. 

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However, he explained that the incident outside TD Garden stuck with him for a long time. He was pulling out of the arena's parking lot, when he saw the white woman and her five or six-year-old son crossing just as cars were approaching. Out of concern, Smart reached out and tried to warn her to prevent an accident so both of them could be safe. However, Smart was met with a couple of racial slurs in return. 

Also read | Kyrie Irving abused, booed by Boston Celtics fans during Celtics vs Nets game at TD Garden

"F*** you, you f***ing n-word!!!!" Smart wrote, explaining how surprised and shocked he was at her words. Smart revealed that he could not breathe, questioning if she really said what she did. "And in an instant, just like that, I was made to feel less than human". He realised that he was only a "form of entertainment" for the woman and had to control himself to not lash out and curse her back. While Smart looks back to the incident, he doesn't fail to think what kind of impact it will have on her child. 

The two-time NBA All-Defensive guard also spoke about his bubble experience and becoming one of the few players who tested positive for COVID-19. On March 19, Smart announced his results on Twitter. Smart was cleared of the virus, and it was reported that he would donate his blood plasma for research. Smart also revealed that the bubble was "great" as it gave him some actual downtime to think things through.

Smart and the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals as the No. 2 seed but were eliminated after a 2-4 series loss against Miami Heat. 

(Image credits: NBA official site)