Following the Celtics’ win over the Pelicans in late January, a repetitive gesture from shooting guard Marcus Smart, grabbing his right hand, He notably caught the attention of journalists during the press conference. “Are you okay? Have you been injured?”asked one of the accredited persons who were in the press room, a question that led to a rather striking confession from the player.
“The truth is that if, I have discomfort since the incident with that photo frame,” Smart revealed. This success took place four years agoin January 2018, when, as a result of an angry outburst of frustration, the player hit the glass frame, break it into small pieces, some of them lodged between the muscle and the skin of his right hand. “I still have pieces of glass from that day in my hand,” he added.
Smart had to make a decision at that time. He might as well stop completely and undergo surgery to clear your hand of crystals, well continue playing with these shards inside of his body, which would become a high probability of suffering consequences during the rest of his career: “The doctors told me that it would cause more problems to try to remove the crystals, so I still have crystals inside.”
After the incident, Smart missed three weeks of competitiona fairly low number for what could have happened: “I’ve been told I was lucky I didn’t cut some ligaments and tendons that would have caused me to retire.” The player confirms that those sequels that the doctors warned about do appear on a regular basis: “I play with pain, and there are times when I can’t feel my hand”.
Marcus Smart after his injury in 2018
The incident
It all happened in January 2018, after a losing streak of play for the Boston Celtics, on a tour of away games. Smart, known in the NBA for his strong character, hit a glass frame of the hotel where the Celtics were staying with his right hand, causing several cuts that, at first, seemed minor.
Behind this the decision of the medical team and Smart was not to intervene, since operating on the hand in those circumstances entailed a certain risk of leading to a more serious and lasting injury, which in the long run has had chronic side effects.
