The Formula:
Marcus
Smart
on Finding Purpose
in Pain, Loss and Family
The 28-year-old athlete reflects on figures who’ve kept him centered and motivated throughout his career.
Tres Generaciones ‘Get Up Tres’ campaign is dedicated to trailblazers who’ve gritted their teeth in the face of adversity. It’s the same spirit embodied by the label’s founding Dons, who strived to build Tres Gen as one of the great houses of tequila. The campaign spotlights Tres Gen’s newest ambassador, Boston Celtics’ point guard Marcus Smart, as a changemaker paving new territory as a rising NBA star. In the final installment of Tres Gen’s “The Formula,” Hypebeast sits down with Marcus Smart to find out what keeps the professional athlete centered in his game and the figures in his life who inspire a sense of purpose in his career.
“When I lost my mom, I lost the reason why I worked my whole life to get here and live out my dream as a professional basketball player, and to help provide for my family,” Smart says. “My dreams came true nine years ago. So when my mom passed it hit home and hit me hard, because I lost that purpose. I felt like one of the main [reasons] for me doing this was gone — the backbone — and I was a little lost. It took some time, but with the right people and support group, I understood. I regained my purpose, and even though she’s not here, I’m still doing it for her.”
Unfortunately, grief and basketball don’t go hand in hand. The culmination of these losses ahead of the 2019-2020 season derailed Smart’s focus and drive to commit to his intensive training. He publicly announced that his family was his number one priority, not his contract, and spent the summer’s offseason in Texas with loved ones. Soon after, the NBA suspended the season on March 11, 2020, following outbreaks of COVID-19 within the league. To remain a formidable force on the court, Smart admits it took finding his inner fire to pull himself from his suffering as he prepared for the 2021-22 season ahead. “It was game seven, I believe, against Milwaukee,” Smart recounts, “where I went up to block a shot and got undercut and hurt myself pretty good. I was able to still play, but I was in pain. And then, after that series ended, I wanna say game three in Boston, against Miami, I took a serious ankle injury. I don’t know how I was able to come back and play, but I did. It was just something in me — that driving force that just kept me going to play. It was tough because I was in a lot of pain, and I didn’t know if I could keep going, but [there] was always something telling me that I had to.”
Smart founded the YounGameChanger Foundation to support disadvantaged youth and cancer patients faced with insurmountable medical fees. From the jump, his family has stood as his spine and strongest supporters, and he plays every game like it’s his last in their honor. His off-court efforts in philanthropy and fashion help him look outward while giving back to his fans and youth that find parallels in his perseverance story. As Tres Gen’s latest ambassador, the athlete provides insight into the struggles and pitfalls that humanize athletes, and the label raises a toast to Marcus as he #GetsUpTres for another run at an NBA championship.
In the wake of his brother and mother,
Already a few games into the 2022-23 season, Smart has a few words for his naysayers: “One of my biggest driving factors is proving people wrong. People have a lot of negative images or thoughts about who I am and my game, so just being able to come out and prove those guys wrong. That’s the purpose that drives me to keep going, working and elevating myself on and off the court.”
“I regained my purpose, and even though she’s not here, I’m still doing it for her.”
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01
Perseverance
02
creativity
03
purpose
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01
Perseverance
02
creativity
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03
purpose
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DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Tres Generaciones® Tequila, 40% alc./vol. ©2022 Sauza Tequila Import Company, Chicago, IL.
On July 19, 2018, Marcus Smart secured a $52 million USD contract with the Boston Celtics, news of which brightened the journey ahead for his family. Two months later, Smart’s mother, Camellia, died on September 16, 2018. Camellia suffered from myelodysplastic syndrome — a type of cancer that causes abnormal cell growth in the bone marrow. As a child, the 28-year-old athlete knew he had the spirit and tenacity to become a professional basketball player; his objective, as the No. 6 pick in the 2014 draft, was to provide for his mother, father and brothers. Camellia’s passing — along with the death of his brother, Todd Westbrook, who passed in 2004 after a nearly two-decade-long battle with leukemia — took the wind from him and forced him to question the labor and fortitude demanded of him as an athlete.
“That’s the purpose that drives me to keep going, working and elevating myself on and off the court.”
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The Formula:
01
Perseverance
02
creativity
click to view
click to view
03
purpose
01
Perseverance
02
creativity
click to view
03
purpose
click to view
learn more
back to top
DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Tres Generaciones® Tequila, 40% alc./vol.
©2022 Sauza Tequila Import Company, Chicago, IL.