We will miss the presence of Al Horford in Boston.
He will be felt in Golden State, where Horford intends to sign a multi -year contract with the WarriorsLeaving the Celtics for the second time in his legendary career, according to Shams Charania d’Espn.
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Jayson Tatum nicknamed Horford “one of the best teammates I have ever had at any level”, and Jaylen Brown called him “a legend and a real hero”. You will not find anyone in the Celtics organization which does not agree.
“If you asked everyone,” said Yahoo Sports last January, president of Celtics basketball operations, “if you take all the joy that each of us lived to win (the championship) last year, I think we will all say a piece of this joy – if not a large part of that in my eyes – was for al.”
It was months ago, when Horford and everyone around him felt like he ended his career in Boston, because the Celtic championship window was wide open. At 39, Horford wanted to start each season he had left him with the chance to win a title, and the defending champion Celtics – with Tatum and Brown squarely in their prime numbers – were positioned to see Horford throughout his career.
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“I just want to be here,” said Horford to Yahoo Sports of his desire to retire in Boston.
Similarly, “as long as Al Horford wants to play,” said Stevens at the time, “we want it here.”
And the Celtics wanted him to stay. It is a soothing presence in the locker room, and still a hell of a player. He collected on average 9 points (42/36/90 of shooting), 6.2 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.5 blocks combined and stolen in 27.7 minutes per game last season, his 18th in the NBA. But Its impact has never been on statistics. He is a winner Who “does nothing to withdraw from the team,” said Stevens.
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More specifically: he does everything to contribute to the team. It spreads the soil. He attacks close them. It even displays on occasion. It protects the edge. He defends in space. He does everything, really.
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He will now do everything in Golden State, where the two sides of the ball require his level of know-how of basketball. There are a lot on the Warriors, who have veterans Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green. What soft rotations their hoop decades will give. If only they can be healthy at their advanced age.
In Golden State, at least Horford can hang on to a chance, even outside, to another ring.
Everything changed to Boston when Tatum broke his Achilles straight tendon in match 4 of the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference. Boston finished to become the first NBA rehearsal champion since 2018. As much as the Horford championship window, at least for the moment, and it is now that everyone aged 40.
Looking at Boston in the face was the second deck of the NBA, a construction of a punitive salary ceiling which finally cost the Celtics Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porziņģis. They could have found a way to stay under the second apron and keep Horford for next season, but it may cost them Sam Hauser, and at what end? Certainly not to quench the incessant thirst of Horford for another championship.
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The departure of Boston Horford is more a statement on the inability of the Celtics to win a title this season than their desire to spend. Do not exclude another return to Boston either, once Tatum returns healthy, while the Celtics reopen their championship window in 2027 and beyond.
Al Horford is ageless this way. You never know when he will finally call it, but when he will do it, it will be when he thinks that he can help win the same way. It’s not this time.
