Marcus Smart Biography

Marcus Osmond Smart, born on March 6, 1994, is an American professional basketball player who has played for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association. He has been recognized as one of the most accomplished defenders of his era, earning NBA All-Defensive First Team honors three times and winning the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award in 2022. Smart played college basketball for the Oklahoma State Cowboys before entering the NBA draft. He was selected by the Boston Celtics with the sixth overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft. As a senior in college, he averaged 15.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. During the 2012 FIBA Americas U18 Championships in Brazil, he set a Team USA U18 record for steals with 18 over five games. On April 17, 2013, he announced publicly at Oklahoma State University that he would return for his sophomore season instead of entering the NBA draft.