Marcus Smart is getting a lot of Metta World Peace comparisons tonight. With past temper tantrums and inconsistent play, at first glance it appears that the worst enemy of Marcus Smart is in fact, likely NBA lottery pick Marcus Smart. But when you consider all the facts of what happened tonight, you may think we all were too quick in our rush to judgment on him.
In the final moments of Oklahoma State’s 65-61 upset loss at Texas Tech, the Oklahoma State sophomore guard went flying into the stands after making a big block that could have potentially saved his team’s chances.
An elderly Tech fan in the seats behind the basket said or did something to Smart that instigated him, because Marcus Smart then shoved the fan in retaliation. This fan seems like an a**hole in another video which we’ll show you below after the video of tonight’s incident. He even admitted that he called Smart “a piece of crap.”
So there’s really no one to root for in this story.
We can understand why Marcus Smart did what he did. We all let our emotions get the best of us in the heat of the moment sometimes. Still, he shouldn’t have gotten physical. Or used “physicality,” which is a new non-existent word that idiot coaches and players use at press conferences these days.
However, you simply cannot hit a fan, EVER, even if he’s someone who uses horrible racial epithets.
Yes, even when he’s an idiot who….well, see below, and pay attention to the background around the 32 second mark when the Texas Tech fan flicks off Texas A&M’s Bryan Davis.
Again, there’s no good guy, only villains in this altercation.
Marcus Smart is the one with much more to lose, so he needs to be the bigger man and walk away. Call the fan names in retaliation, get mad etc. But if you strike a spectator (not an innocent spectator, but a spectator nonetheless) you will be suspended, you will miss time and now his NBA Draft stock portfolio has a red flag on it. I know, it’s unfair to ask the college sophomore to be the grounded and mature one here.
Ideally, the middle-aged man would be the wholesome one, not such a dick.
However, Smart is the celebrity and future multi-millionaire in a few months, so he needs to know when to walk away. We currently have him 4th overall in our latest NBA Mock Draft.
It’s very unfair to him, but Marcus Smart will now have something to prove in the combine interviews come May. He’s a tremendous talent, and he’ll still be a first round pick, but now he has to prove why he won’t also be a headache to NBA GMs prospectively willing to bet their reputation on his. It’s not totally right, but it’s the way it is.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports. An MBA and Fulbright scholar, he’s also a frequent analyst on news talk radio; with regular segments on ESPN,NBC, CBS and Fox. A former NBC Chicago and Washington Times writer, he’s also been featured on the History Channel. President Obama follows him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)