The finalists for the 2025-26 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award were announced by the NBA and Los Angeles Lakers guard Marcus Smart was one of them
The annual honor recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, on and off court leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment and dedication to team.
Current NBA players will select the winner from these 12 finalists (six finalists from each NBA conference), which also includes Desmond Bane of the Orlando Magic, Jalen Brunson of the New York Knicks, Pat Connaughton of the Charlotte Hornets, De’Aaron Fox of the San Antonio Spurs, Jeff Green of the Houston Rockets, Jrue Holiday of the Portland Trail Blazers, DeAndre Jordan of the New Orleans Pelicans, Duncan Robinson of the Detroit Pistons, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Garrett Temple of the Toronto Raptors and Jaylin Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Smart has been an excellent addition for the Lakers this season both on and off the court. His defensive toughness and timely shot-making have been much-needed, but so has his leadership in the locker room. Smart has embraced being one of the veteran mentors for the Lakers’ young players, including Adou Thiero, Bronny James, Dalton Knecht and others.
The former Defensive Player of the Year has a ton of experience in the NBA and has used that to help develop the team’s young but talented players.
Marcus Smart reveals advice to Adou Thiero
Smart sees some of himself in Thiero, the Lakers’ rookie second round draft pick, and he recently revealed some of the advice he has given to his teammate.
“Keep going,” Smart said. “In this league, everyone comes into this league as a star and then you got to adjust to the role that you’re given. Not everybody is going to be a star or that guy in this league the way that they want to so you gotta figure out a way to be that guy and to be able to get yourself on the court. We got a lot of talent here, so it’s going to be hard for a dude to come in and just take spots. He has to go out and prove and show that, hey, he deserves to be on the court and he deserves to find some playing time for him.
“And that’s the way he’s gonna be able to do it. Let the scoring come second and that’s all I’ve been telling him. We got a lot of guys that can score the ball, there’s not a lot of guys that want to play defense. So being able to go out there and play that defensive role gets you on the court, everything else you can add it to it.”
It’s advice like this that has Smart in the mix to win the 2025-26 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.
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