Marcus Smart Turns Heads Revealing How Luka Doncic Recruited Him to Lakers originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
On Saturday, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported that the Los Angeles Lakers agreed to sign two-way guard Marcus Smart to a two-year, $11 million deal after he was bought out by the Washington Wizards.
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Smart, the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, officially joined the Lakers on Tuesday after the team cleared cap space by releasing Jordan Goodwin, Shake Milton, and Trey Jemison.
Rumors surfaced after the news broke that Lakers star Luka Doncic played a key role in recruiting Smart, and those reports were confirmed during Smart’s Tuesday interviews. He revealed that Doncic reached out to his agent twice, showing genuine interest in bringing him to Los Angeles.
“You know, when you get a guy like Luka calling, referencing, checking on you, trying to see where you’re at to join something special that he’s trying to cook up over here… and for him to say that he could really use my help, it meant a lot,” Smart said.
“We definitely had a mutual understanding of respect for each other… It first came with a call to my agent saying, ‘Hey, Luka’s reached out,’ and I was like, ‘Yeah, whatever.’ Then the other day, same thing—Luka reached out again and now it’s real. That was a great feeling, and that’s kind of what got things going for me to be here.”
Smart brings the Lakers exactly what they desperately need: an elite defender at the guard position to pair with Luka Doncic and, at times, Austin Reaves.
Beyond winning Defensive Player of the Year with the Celtics in 2022, Smart has earned All-Defensive team honors three times. He spent the first nine seasons of his career in Boston before being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies, and then briefly to the Washington Wizards.
Jan 9, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Memphis Grizzlies guard Marcus Smart (36) smiles after scoring against Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) during the first quarter at the American Airlines Center.
© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Now, at 31, he joins a Lakers team with championship aspirations. Smart’s gritty, tenacious style is exactly what title contenders rely on—much like the role Alex Caruso played for the Oklahoma City Thunder during their recent NBA Finals run.
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 22, 2025, where it first appeared.