Boston Celtics

Jaylen Brown and Jaren Jackson seem ready to fight for Marcus Smart’s attention following blockbuster trade

Brown and Smart played together in Boston for seven years, an extended stretch for any pair of players in the NBA.

Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown were teammates in Boston for seven years. Matthew J Lee / The Boston Globe

By Conor Ryan

September 21, 2023

1 minute to read

Marcus Smart is now playing for the Memphis Grizzlies following an offseason trade.

But it’s clear that the longtime Celtics point guard still holds close ties with many of his teammates in Boston.

After attending Smart’s wedding last weekend, Jaylen Brown posted a few photos of him and Smart together on Instagram Wednesday night — with the caption reading, “My Brother 4L (for life)”.

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Brown and Smart played together in Boston for seven years, an extended stretch for any pair of players in the NBA.

But with Brown sent out Memphis back in June as part of Boston’s blockbuster trade that brought in Kristaps Porzingis, Smart now has a new set of teammates around him with the Grizzlies.

One of them is reigning NBA Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr., who couldn’t help but twist the knife against Brown by commenting on his post about Smart.

“My brotha now,” Jackson said of Smart.

It didn’t take very long for Brown to respond, with the Celtics star swingman retorting with a cap emoji and the comment: “he don’t even (mess with) y’all”.

Even though Smart will always be linked with the Celtics, the scrappy guard is landing in a good spot with a talented, defensive-minded Grizzlies team that also features Jackson, Desmond Bane, and Ja Morant.

Brown and the Celtics will take on Smart for the first time as opponents on Nov. 19 in Memphis before he makes his anticipated return to TD Garden on Feb. 4.