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The Boston Celtics suspended guard Marcus Smart for their preseason finale against the Miami Heat on Friday night after violating a team rule, they announced on Thursday.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Smart simply missed the team’s flight to Miami earlier this week.
“We’re going to keep that in-house,” Smart said after practice in Miami on Thursday, via ESPN. “It’s over and done with.”
It’s unclear what flight Smart missed specifically or why, or how he got to Miami on his own. The Celtics were in Orlando on Wednesday night, where they lost 103-102 to the Magic. Smart didn’t play in that contest, though neither did Jayson Tatum, Dennis Shroder or Josh Richardson. Jaylen Brown and Al Horford are also sidelined in COVID-19 protocols.
“It’s internal,” Celtics coach Ime Udoka said, via ESPN. “We’ve handled it. He’s remorseful, and we hold Marcus to a high standard. We’ve made it clear from Day 1, so he’ll obviously be out tomorrow night. He’s with us here on the trip. Just look forward to moving on from this growing and obviously abiding by the team rules and principles.
“Marcus is one of our leaders that we expect a lot from. He understands that. He’s remorseful, and we’ll move on from there.”
Smart averaged a career=high 13.1 points and 5.7 assists per game last season with the Celtics, his seventh with the team. The 27-year-old signed a four year, $76 million contract extension to remain with the Celtics through the 2025-26 season earlier this offseason.
Smart will be available for the Celtics’ season opener against the New York Knicks next Wednesday at Madison Square Garden, where they’ve opened as a 1-point underdog on BetMGM.
