Coronavirus: Marcus Smart Gets ‘Defensive System Of The Year’ After Being Cleared of COVID-19

Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart shared on social media that he has is now clear from coronavirus. He’s become the fourth NBA player to recover from the said virus after Detroit Pistons’ Christian Wood and Utah Jazz All-Stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert.

On his Twitter post, the 26-year old combo-guard a somehow-delayed declaration of his recovery, saying that he was already cleared by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health two days ago. He also thanked his fans and others who sent their prayers for him as he was recovering from the pandemic.

The NBA suspended the rest of the season on March 11 after Gobert tested positive for the said virus and his team’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder was canceled. Both teams were quarantined and tested and that’s where the found out that Mitchell also has the virus.

After Smart’s recovery, three teams are now COVID-19 free as he is the only player who had the virus from the Boston Celtics – Mitchell and Gobert were the only ones diagnosed with the virus for Utah and Wood for the Pistons and they all announced that they have recovered and cleared of the virus.

Out of the named athletes, it’s now just Kevin Durant who is not announcing his clearance from the health department. Durant’s three teammates from Brooklyn Nets also tested positive for the virus but the team opted not to disclose their identities. The Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, and the Philadelphia 76ers are the only teams who haven’t released a statement regarding their players' and staff’s recovery from the virus after announcing that they have players and staff who tested positive to the virus.

Most recently, New York Knicks owner James Dolan announced that he is positive with coronavirus.

Smart followed up his tweet with a new accomplishment following his recovery.

He is a current member of the NBA All-Defensive First Team and is one of the well-loved players by the Beantown fans and they rejoiced by flooding to his Twitter post to congratulate him.