To my slight surprise, the contrasting feelings that were so familiar during the nine seasons that Marcus Smart played for the Celtics did not depart along with him.
The anticipation of something fun and memorable to come remains strong with the pending 2023-24 Celtics. So does the hovering unease, the sense that the best-laid plans could go haywire with just a couple missteps.
Anticipating and appreciating the good, but with unease of potential chaos usually hovering nearby? Yep, that’s a fair synopsis of the full Marcus Smart Boston Celtic experience … and it’s how I feel about the state of the team right now, a little more than a week after we learned he was becoming a former Celtic.