Marcus Smart is one of the NBA’s best defenders, regularly finding himself on the All-Defense team for his work on that end for the Celtics both as a tremendous perimeter pest and a physical defender down low on the switch.

Like a lot of great defenders, where Smart prides himself is in his effort level on that end. While defense requires plenty of skill, ability, and basketball IQ, what tends to stand out the most with great defenders is the effort they give — particularly the case with someone like Smart who is regularly on the floor going for loose balls and jumping passing lanes for steals. So, it should come as no surprise that when he was asked by a fan on Twitter how they can improve on defense, he focused on the effort part, but the best part of his response was saying that you can never accept losing, while using a very odd example for that.