The Los Angeles Lakers sorely missed Marcus Smart as their defensive effort and overall intensity dropped without him.
Smart missed a few games due to a back injury, though returned in the loss to the San Antonio Spurs. Smart made an impact with his outside shooting, though the most important thing is he noted he felt good physically afterward.
As a veteran leader on the team, Smart’s voice carries weight and he’s done a good job of using it to get the most out of his teammates. For example, he’s taken Adou Thiero under his wing and revealed the advice he’s given the rookie.
“Keep going,” Smart said after a recent practice. “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.”
Thiero has already shown flashes of being a solid 3-and-D player, especially because of his size, physicality and athleticism . While the parent team doesn’t have openings in the rotation at full strength, it’s easy to envision how Thiero can fit in and find a niche should the Lakers ever need to call him up.
Until then, he will continue to go to veterans like Smart for advice.
“Adou’s been really great. He’s taken the initiative to come find me a lot of the time and pick my brain,” Smart said.
“If anybody whose really watched us and paid close attention to Adou, you can tell that he’s gonna be a great addition for us. He has the size, ability and athleticism to go out there and be one of the greatest defenders in this game that we’ve had. You just gotta want to. But he definitely has it, and each and every day he comes out here, he proves and he shows that he wants to get better and that he wants to be a part of making an impact on that end.”
The long-term potential for Thiero is exciting and hopefully he takes Smart’s advice to heart as it could help accelerate his development.
Marcus Smart hoping to build off strong shooting performance against Spurs
Marcus Smart has struggled shooting the basketball during the 2025-26 season, but he finally broke out against the Spurs. Smart knocked down eight of his 14 attempts from beyond the arc and after the game he said he is hoping to build off his strong performance.
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