The Boston Celtics became the 2024 NBA Champions on June 17th , 2024. While the main storylines were Jayson Tatum receiving his first ring and Jaylen Brown winning the Finals MVP, one player many Celtics players were happy for was the veteran, Al Horford. Many questioned whether this would be the 38-year old’s swan song, but he seemingly has no plans of retiring soon.
“For me, I never really put a timeframe on it,” Horford told ESPN. “I want to make sure that I feel healthy, that I’m enjoying what I’m doing and for me, thankfully, I have my wife’s support and my family’s. That’s a big deal to me. I feel like I’ve been asked this for a few years now and I feel good, I want to keep playing. Why not keep going? I don’t want to limit myself.”
Horford was the oldest player to play in an NBA Finals game before the Celtics secured the title.
Al Horford Not Ready to Retire Yet
Al Horford’s Importance to Boston
The city of Boston loves Horford and for good reason. He is a savvy veteran presence in the locker room and simply gets the job done when called upon, such as he did during this NBA Finals series. With the injuries to Kristaps Porzingis, he stepped up and provided a solid frontcourt presence. Many often forget that this is not his first stint with the Celtics.
Horford was a member of Boston from 2016 to 2019. He then spent short stints with the Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder. However, the veteran eventually found his way back to Boston where he had a defined role. While Horford was no longer the All-Star that he was back in the 2017 campaign, his voice in the locker was extremely instrumental towards the Celtics path to a title. After 17 long seasons, Al Horford can now call himself an NBA champion.
His Career
It is safe to say Horford will find himself in the Hall of Fame one day. Not only does he now possess a championship, but he also boasts five All-Star selections, an All-NBA Team selection, and an All-Defensive Team selection. For Horford’s career, he has logged 13.1 points, 8.0 total rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 blocks per game, and a career effective field goal percentage of 55.1 percent. On top of that, he has a career defensive rating of 105 to go along with a career offensive rating of 116. With a title on Al Horford’s resume now, it is safe to say he is a future Hall of Famer.
