Marcus Smart makes a not so smart decision

Marcus Smart made two bad plays at the end of Oklahoma States loss to Texas Tech on Saturday. First was trying to run down a fast break play which he had little to no chance of stopping. Then after the play, Smart shoves a Texas Tech fan and was lucky he was not ejected from the game with 6.2 seconds left to play. There is question as to what was said or done during the exchange, but no matter Marcus Smart should have known better. Have players not learned anything from the Pacers and Ron Artest brawl? When players go after fans at a game nothing good will come out of it. That’s what happens when you play on the road. Fans are rowdy, they talk crazy, and what do they hope to gain? They hope to get a reaction like this. Before Saturday night I’m sure that not many people outside of Texas Tech had ever heard of Jeff Orr. The two will forever be intertwined in history for an incident that lasted all of ten seconds.

This is not Jeff Orr’s first incident with an opposing teams player. Orr is an air traffic controller from Waco, Texas and he travels every year to watch his Texas Tech Red Raiders play. During a Texas Tech vs. Texas A&M game in 2010, Jeff Orr was seen displaying an obscene gesture towards a Texas A&M player. No action has been taken and the incident never escalated beyond that point. NBA players Byron Davis and John Lucas III took to Twitter with their experience of playing games with Orr in the Crowd. “The same guy that talked crazy to me for 4 years. Smh but you should never put your hands on a fan.” wrote Byron Davis and “I just saw the video that same fan was at the games talking crazy even when I was in school I don't forget a face he says a lot of crazy ish Out of his mouth when u are in the game. And he is a grown man talking to kids the way he does” writes John Lucas III. It is unclear if the NCAA or Texas Tech will take actions against Jeff Orr and an investigation into the incident is on going.

Now to Marcus Smart. You should know better. Did you learn anything from the stories of Jackie Robinson or the first black athletes of the three major sports before you. Smart’s actions maybe due to his teams current losing streak or his falling draft status, but under no circumstances should you ever engage a fan in that manner. It’s just a bad look. The moment you attack a fan in the worlds eyes you are wrong. You want to shut up a rowdy fan, make plays. That’s what Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and Reggie Miller did. Now it’s time to face the repercussions. You will make a formal apology, you will be suspended most likely for 3-5 games, and NBA teams will not look at you the same. How could an NBA GM trust you to lead their team from the abyss. When you get frustrated again will you let your emotions get the best of you like it did Saturday night. I hope that you learn from this situation. Sometimes in like we make the best decisions when we just do nothing at all.