Despite Coronavirus, Marcus Smart Could ‘Go Play a Game Right Now’

Marcus Smart, Celtics

Marcus Smart, Celtics

Celtics guard Marcus Smart has been feeling just fine since the NBA announced the season would be suspended in response to the spreading of the coronavirus nine days ago. It had not even occurred to him that he might be among those infected, even though the Celtics faced the Jazz just five days before the suspension was announced.

Utah was the first team to have players—Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell—test positive for the virus. Despite that, Smart was undeniably surprised this week when his test came back positive, making him the first Boston athlete with coronavirus.

“I found out yesterday evening sometime,” Smart said Friday night on CNN. “And for me, it was just like a surprise, you know, because like I said, I feel fine. I haven’t had any symptoms. So for me, like when they told me I had it, I was just like, oh, wow. You know, and it definitely really makes you alert to what’s going on.”

But Smart said that having been infected with coronavirus has not dampened his desire to get back on the floor.

“I feel great,” Smart said. “I feel fine. I feel like I can go play a game right now.”


Smart’s Twitter a Source of Lockdown Amusement

Smart and the Celtics were told to self-quarantine on March 12. During that span, he has been having fun on social media, starting with a tweet about one of the benefits of having the league in hiatus: “I can’t get fined more $ for a while!”

He posted another tweet showing a mock video of a dealer in a leather jacket on a corner selling toiled paper and hand sanitizer for a pile of $100 bills. As Tom Brady was announcing he was leaving New England, Smart retweeted a photo of his head photoshopped onto Brady’s body, with the comment, “Hey @danielrainge, can we meet?”

And even shortly before he announced that his test was positive, Smart was tweeting to fans to have them choose their favorite of his many hairstyles.


Smart taking Isolation ‘Very Seriously’

Smart said that the fun he was having during his quarantine should not be taken as a sign that he was taking the spread of the coronavirus pandemic lightly.

“I’ve actually been taking isolation — the quarantine very, very seriously,” Smart said. “I’ve been quarantined for a while now. Ever since we got back from our road trip and decided to get the team tested. I have been quarantined ever since. Doing everything I’m supposed to. Washing my hands. Germ-x. Everything.”

He added that he and his doctors are optimistic about his recovery—but he’s keeping a safe distance away from others until that happens.

“I’m not that concerned at all,” he said. “You know, like I said, I feel fine. No symptoms. And I talked to my doctors and they feel the exact same way with me. And they just told me, you know, you haven’t really experienced any symptoms yet. I mean, you already being quarantined. So you should be on that last curve of the ball. And so everybody in my corner feels great on this end. And we just ready to finally get this behind us. And move on, like I said.

“But we’re taking the steps to make sure we keep, you know, everybody else safe around me. My loved ones. And just people out in the streets and making sure we keep the contact limitless and just quarantine. That’s the biggest key is just really isolating yourself.”

READ MORE: Carmelo Anthony on NBA Player Finances: ‘It’s Going to Get Really, Really Bad’