“She told me she’d rather I was here than back there, doing what I love to do. Because she loves to watch me play, and that would put a smile on her face if I got back healthy and back on the court.” Even when Marcus Smart’s mother was suffering from cancer, her only joy came from watching her son hoop. Now, the 2022 DPOY has joined a new team with a championship in his sights. Yet, the 31-year-old isn’t forgetting the contribution of his mother, who put him in this position.

Camellia Smart did not just play her role as a mother but was a rock, motivator, and a straightforward critic. In fact, she would even turn up to the majority of the games being the loudest cheerleader. To honor her and to acknowledge her sacrifices, Marcus did not delay in buying a house for his mother after the 2014 draft. But in April 2018, adversity struck, and Camellia was diagnosed with bone marrow cancer. She fought bravely until her passing in September that same year. It hit Marcus hard.

Previously, he recalled, “I don’t think it’s really ever easy to lose your loved one, especially your mother, but like I said, I have a great supporting cast.” That cast of friends, family, and loved ones truly helped him through, and years later, Marcus Smart, during his celebration of the Lakers’ move, made sure to remember his mom.

“To be able to play for one of the most historical franchises, wow, and to be here in Purple and Gold is a dream…The reason you go out and compete the way you compete is to try to win championships. And what better place to be able to do that than here, where the show starts and where the show ends.”

While talking about his dream move, he wished for his mother’s presence by his side. “I wish my mom was here to be able to see this.” A straight confession and another way to thank and remember Camellia. The latest Lakers guard has previously also honored his mother with a tattoo. Whenever she would call her son, she uttered the phrase “God love you. I love you,” and showered immense confidence on her son. Now, this serves as a permanent reminder of the love that shaped his journey.

Apart from his mother, Marcus Smart lost another family member to cancer

Losing his mom at the age of 24 is a tough pill to swallow. But unfortunately, losing a family member was a painful experience that he had already had fourteen and a half years earlier. At the time, it was cancer again that took his brother, Todd Westbrook, away. And not just any cancer, the same cancer that his mother, Camellia, later succumbed to. Just like his mom, Marcus Smart also learned the lesson of not giving up and continuing to hoop from his brother.

Westbrook, a hoops star at Lancaster High School just outside of Dallas, and while undergoing chemotherapy, decided to hoop in the high school gym. It seemed like there were no effects of the radiation, as he easily put up 30 points that night. Yet, he was fighting the immense pain and was in a constant battle with cancer that took his life when he was at the age of 33. Marcus Smart was just nine at the time, but could never forget, glimpse of Westbrook forgetting his pain and playing on the hardwood.

That’s why the new Lakers star once said, “I look at basketball as like a storm. But it’s the eye of the storm. The calmest place of it is to be right in the eye of it. And that’s what basketball is for me; it’s my eye. While everything else around me is going on – the destruction, and things like that – basketball keeps me calm.” Losing family members is tough, but there are lessons they taught Smart on how to deal with adversities. That’s why on his new chapter about his life, his thoughts were for them to be around him.