In a 2019 sport in opposition to the Charlotte Hornets, Marcus Good made headlines for publicly yelling at head coach Brad Stevens. He had simply picked up his fifth foul and in flip, was pulled out of the sport, barking at Brad on his strategy to the bench.
We didn’t understand it on the time, however with that heated change, the Love & Belief period was born.
“That is the half about Marcus that I like — his hearth, his competitiveness,” Stevens stated after the sport. “If there’s a second when he’s upset with us, that’s all a part of it. We transfer on fairly rapidly. We’ve been collectively a very long time, and I’ve been yelled at earlier than, and that’s okay. I like him and I belief him, and he’ll get each alternative.”
I like him and I belief him.
Celtics followers have repeated that mantra numerous occasions over the previous 4 years, all whereas Good earned the place to begin guard place, helped lead the workforce to the 2022 Finals, and have become one of many league’s most tenacious defenders.
It’s been almost two months because the nine-year veteran was traded to Memphis, and plenty of of you’re most likely rolling your eyes at one more thought piece debriefing the commerce and making an attempt to seize all that Marcus Good meant to the Celtics franchise and metropolis of Boston at giant.
However, the passage of time is a present relating to the artwork of reflection. I, a lifelong Celtics fan and a brand-new CelticsBlog author, have had six weeks to replicate on the franchise-altering commerce that introduced Kristaps Porzingis to Boston, and whereas my feelings relating to the on-court implications of the transfer have considerably muted, my appreciation for Marcus has solely deepened.
The preliminary Shams tweet at 11:59pm on June twenty second asserting the surprising commerce felt like a bullet shot to the chest. I impulsively swore off my Celtics allegiance, incredulous that Brad may make such a rash determination within the wee hours of the night time.
The wound has since softened — partly, because of my mom, who needed to really remind me that Marcus is, in each sense, completely wonderful and wholesome. There’s no disgrace in a 25-year-old grownup dramatically mourning the exit of their favourite participant, proper?
“He’s not harm, Noa. He’s not even retiring,” my mom texted me, a bit confused about my inconsolable devastation. The numerous black-and-white, fan-made Marcus Good tribute movies that instantly inundated the web solely elevated her confusion: why was such a big portion of the fanbase grieving this commerce in such dramatic style?
My reply to that query is longer than I may slot in a single article, however regardless, I’ll do my finest. In spite of everything, I’ve had six weeks to ruminate on Good’s departure, and to try to seize what he meant to the town of Boston.
That is an ode to Marcus Good and to the passage of time — time within the type of 9 years in a Celtics uniform, 581 tenacious video games performed, 914 emphatic steals, 911 “no-no-yes” three-pointers, and one 11:59pm tweet that put his charming run in inexperienced to a sudden finish.
Photograph by Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald through Getty Photographs
Firstly, Marcus Good is a ferocious, gutsy competitor.
Drafted sixth by the Celtics within the 2014 NBA Draft, Marcus was described by scouts as having ‘Joakim Noah-style competitiveness,’ ‘a status for flopping’ and being ‘extraordinarily efficient on protection’ — descriptions that every one aged properly.
Good’s plethora of on-court antics and memorable highlights, such because the back-to-back costs he drew in opposition to James Harden in a wild 2017 comeback in opposition to the Rockets, is what many followers will keep in mind him for. The workforce had trailed by 26-points and capped off the run with Marcus drawing consecutive offensive fouls on Harden within the remaining 10 seconds, a quintessential defensive efficiency.
He was named Defensive Participant of the 12 months in 2022, turning into the primary guard to take residence the distinction since Gary Payton in 1996 (and solely the second level guard all time). He completed his Celtics tenure 4th all time in steals.
Good’s dedication to doing the little issues on the court docket haven’t gone unnoticed. He’s a three-time winner of the NBA Hustle Award, which acknowledges effort performs that don’t seem within the conventional field rating however impression successful, akin to deflections, free balls recovered, box-outs, display assists, and contested pictures. He gained the award in three of the 5 previous seasons, together with in each 2022 and 2023.
Accolades don’t even start to seize Good’s distinctive aggressive spirit. Oftentimes, he did it on protection, diving for a free ball, getting below a giant man’s pores and skin, or locking down an opponent’s high scorer.
When it was wanted, he did it on offense. In Might, with the Celtics going through elimination in Sport 6 at Philadelphia and Jayson Tatum struggling mightily for a lot of the sport, Good stored the season alive — ending with 22 factors, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and a pair of steals.
In 2020, Good led the Celtics to a playoff victory in opposition to the Toronto Raptors that included 5 consecutive three-pointers in a span of solely three minutes.
“I ain’t by no means performed with no person like Good; I ain’t by no means met no person like Good,” Tatum stated after the win. “He’s considered one of a sort. Anyone that watches him play, is aware of him or ever performs with him is aware of there’s no person like Good. Any time I’m going to struggle, I’ll take him on my workforce every single day of the week.”
We thought he had many extra years in Boston.
Trades are an simple a part of the enterprise, and it’s uncommon to see one participant play out their complete profession with one franchise. We watched the workforce ship out Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma Metropolis in 2012, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in 2013, and, maybe most infamously, Isaiah Thomas to Cleveland in 2017.
A few of these trades aged higher than others; in hindsight, an growing old Pierce and Garnett have been flipped for the draft picks that grew to become Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and neither Pierce nor Garnett appear to have arduous emotions about Danny Ainge’s determination.
On the flip aspect, the Perkins commerce successfully marked the start of the top of the Huge Three period. Whereas Jeff Inexperienced, who the Celtics acquired, was (and is) a productive participant, Perkins’ loss within the locker room, on the glass, and on protection was too massive to beat.
Marcus Good had been a fixture of commerce talks for the higher a part of a decade, however his identify had not been linked to any rumors of late. Brad Stevens himself appeared to verify he would hold the core collectively.
“We love our basis,” Stevens informed the media on June 1st, shortly after the Celtics have been eradicated. “We love our core. And that’s actually our focus and precedence.”
Maybe Marcus Good was not considered by administration as a part of that basis. Or, extra possible, a singular alternative introduced itself and what at some point felt like a certainty was now not one. Good, talking publicly at his basketball camp in Stoughton for the primary time because the commerce, revealed that Stevens beforehand assured him he wasn’t on the chopping block.
“It was positively surprising to search out out that method, particularly as a result of the week earlier than, I used to be already informed we have been good, there have been no commerce talks with me and I used to be good,” Good stated.
Such is the cutthroat enterprise of the NBA, with even essentially the most loyal and beloved gamers getting shipped within the blink of an eye fixed within the face of a transfer executives consider will improve the roster. Only a few gamers are really untouchable, significantly when championship expectations haven’t been met. As a fan, that actuality doesn’t at all times make stomaching a commerce any simpler, significantly when a participant’s impression extends far past the basketball court docket. Shedding Marcus the participant is one factor, shedding Marcus the particular person is one other.
Marcus prioritized charity work, giving his time to the town’s hospitals and youngsters.
Marcus Good grew to become a fixture of the Boston neighborhood in a method that few skilled athletes have. His philanthropy with the YounGameChanger Basis was core to his Boston tenure — and this unimaginable article detailing his hospital charity work shines mild on the profound impression he had on sick youngsters throughout the town.
Marcus misplaced each his older brother, Todd, and mom, Camellia, to most cancers, and in flip, spent the final decade in Boston visiting sick sufferers and placing a smile on their faces, significantly once they have been within the thick of remedy.
Photograph by Brian Babineau/NBAE through Getty Photographs
With the purpose of constructing the hospital expertise rather less horrible for youngsters, he launched the Good Carts program, which gives medical amenities with cell charging stations loaded with tablets and online game consoles designed to develop into leisure hubs.
Katie Devine, the affiliate director of donor relations for Boston Kids’s Hospital Belief, described Marcus as essentially the most “real, variety and passionate particular person.” Within the aftermath of the commerce, Marcus provided reassurance that his charity work would proceed in Boston, whereas additionally increasing to Memphis.
He liked being a Boston Celtic.
No different Celtic on this period has expressed his love for Boston in such an impassioned method, and undoubtedly, Good’s allegiance to the town helped make him a fan favourite. He wished to retire a Celtic, he dyed his hair inexperienced (in honor of his late mom), and he grew to become well-known for his warm-up routine, which included a backwards, nook three proper in entrance of followers. For years, his Twitter location learn Best Metropolis within the World, and he usually spoke about how no different fan base in contrast.
”It’s positively arduous to say goodbye,” Good stated at his camp. “I do know speaking to a few of these followers, I positively get emotional. They’re coming as much as me and they’re bawling.”
In his official introduction as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies, he mirrored on his early days in Boston and the way he ultimately made it a house. “After I acquired to Boston, I used to be a 19-year-old child from Dallas, Texas,” Good stated. “It was a tradition shock, it was a social shock, it was a shock to my complete life. By no means been to the East Coast or something like that, so it was all bizarre to me. However I grew up. I met some very fantastic folks all through my time there.”
In all, Marcus Good helped lead the Celtics to 9 consecutive playoff appearances. Whereas he was by no means the workforce’s largest star — he averaged 11.5 factors per sport on 41.5% capturing within the 2022-23 season — he was, by most accounts, the “coronary heart and soul” of the locker room, as Jaylen Brown declared again in 2021.
His solely remorse? Not bringing the town a championship. And whereas the battle for Banner 18 will proceed, it gained’t look fairly the identical.
“My brother, my teammate, considered one of my finest buddies will not be on the workforce anymore,” Jaylen Brown stated upon signing his contract extension in July, the richest in NBA historical past. “Everyone is aware of it. I realized a lot from Marcus. We butted heads at occasions, we fought, we did all of it. Put one another in headlocks, and many others. This journey gained’t really feel the identical with out him, to be sincere.”
This text will most likely open the floodgates on the exasperated “Celtics followers are so irrational they’d have been mad if Marcus Good was traded for Nikola Jokic” takes.
The reality is, we gained’t know the total implications of this commerce for months, if not years. Possibly the Porzingis acquisition will likely be what will get this group throughout the end line to a championship, and Stevens will appear to be a genius.
Or, maybe the lack of Good will likely be an excessive amount of to beat, and the workforce’s inconsistent efficiency will develop into much more mercurial with the lack of its vocal chief. At this level, we’re all simply speculating.
If there’s one factor I’m sure of: Marcus Good will go down in historical past as one of many all-time Celtics greats — most likely not within the official rankings, most definitely not within the rafters. However within the minds of a sure, fiery subsection of the Celtics fan base that I, alongside 1000’s of others belong to, Marcus Good is a real Celtics nice.
