When Al Horford was 14 years old, he left his home country of the Dominican Republican to pursue a basketball career in the United States. Almost 25 years later, the longtime Celtic returned as the highest-paid Latin American basketball player of all time, and — most importantly — the country’s first-ever NBA champion.
Accompanied by his wife, Amelia Vega, and four kids, Horford made the trip back to the nation where he was born with the Larry O’Brien championship trophy in hand. Joining the the Horford family, Joe Mazzulla and Celtics assistant coach Tony Dobbins also boarded on the JetBlue Celtics aircraft, the Lucky Blue.
Joe Mazzulla and Al Horford on the flight to the Dominican Republic, where Horford is celebrating being the first-ever NBA champion from the DR
( Amelia Vega) pic.twitter.com/E1M5UDjwZX
— Noa Dalzell (@NoaDalzell) September 10, 2024
The trip is just a week removed from Mazzulla showcasing the trophy for his own hometown community in Rhode Island.
It’s technically just a four-hour flight from Boston Logan Airport to the Dominican Republic. But, in all actuality, it took Horford decades to get to this moment. He accrued more playoff wins (185) than any active NBA player without an NBA championship, and made the postseason 14 times before it culminated in the ultimate prize.
So, when he got it done and the dust had settled, he couldn’t stop smiling.
“People are happy — this has never been done before,” Horford told media in the Dominican Republic.
“I left here 24 years ago, it’s crazy. To be able to come back here with the trophy in hand, it’s something that’s special for me and for my family.”
When the Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship, history was made in a number of countries. Kristaps Porzingis became the first-ever NBA player from Latvia to win a championship, Neemias Queta became the first from Portugal, and Horford from the DR.
“It was very important for me to travel to the Dominican Republic to celebrate this victory with family, friends and loved ones in my homeland; this victory is also my country’s,” Horford said, per the Celtics.
Al’s mother, sports journalist Arelis Reynoso, shared a photo of her son arriving with the trophy in hand.
As a teenager, Al Horford relocated to Michigan, where his father, Tito, had settled after a professional basketball career that included three years in the NBA. Immediately, it was clear he picked up the game. As his career progressed, so did his acclaim in his home country.
“The moment he steps in the airport, people begin to crowd him,” Tito Horford told Time Magazine in 2017. “On the street, people are yelling, you see paparazzi. Baseball’s always No. 1 in the Dominican Republic, but people looooove the NBA. They got the packages, they watch the games, and he’s the main one they watch.”
It doesn’t appear that’s changed over the past seven years. Al Horford hosted a basketball camp flooded with kids in La Romana, and was accompanied by his championship-winning head coach.
In less than two weeks, Celtics training camp will resume, and the championship celebrations will finally come to an end. For now, the Larry O’Brien trophy had one more stop.
Horford brought the trophy to the National Pace and received one of the country’s highest honors from President Luis Abinader: the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sanchez, and Mella.
“I knew I was going to come meet the president, but I didn’t know I was gonna get the highest award for the country. Very special for me, very special for my family. Feel very proud right now. Very overwhelmed with a lot of emotion. Very, very special day for me today.”
