SI

Fan Ejected After 'Crossing the Line' While Heckling Marcus Smart in Return to Boston

An otherwise nice reception marred.

Kyle Koster

Marcus Smart thought a line had been crossed.
Marcus Smart thought a line had been crossed. / @Fullcourtpass on X
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Marcus Smart, long a fan favorite in Boston, returned to TD Garden on Sunday as his Washington Wizards were in town to face the Celtics. He did not see any action on the court as the home team cruised to a 34-point victory but sitting on the bench proved to be fairly eventful in itself. Despite receiving an overwhelmingly positive welcome back, one fan decided to escalate things while Smart was on the bench, saying something to catch his attention and ultimately leading to a security-aided ejection.

But not before Smart got to do some powerful pointing at the fan while being casually held by back his Wizards teammates.

"[The fan] just crossed the line and we all know I don't do line-crossing," Smart told reporters postgame. "That was it. We move on. Unfortunate, you never want to see that, especially for a guy who's coming back, and who's given the city everything he has, but it is what it is. Take the spirit, we'll take it. Onto the next one."

Did we all know that Marcus Smart does not do line-crossing? Is this new information. Either way, it's nice to know. You can get up to the line but please do not even think about crossing over it.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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