Al Horford is entering the final year of his two-year $19.5 million deal. He is embarking his age-38 season and, assuming the Boston Celtics produce another NBA Finals run next season, will be 39 before the Celtics gear up for the summer of 2025.
Like it or not, we’re in the final stretch of the veteran big man’s career. In fact, I don’t think many of us would have been shocked if he’d announced his retirement after helping the Celtics secure Banner 18 last season. Instead, he’s committed to seeing out the final year of his deal.
“Al is coming back for next year,” Wyc Grousbeck told Celtics fans during an interview on “The Greg Hill Show,” for WEEI. “That’s what I’ve been told. Age 38, which is unbelievable.”
Horford could have bowed out as a champion. He could have sailed off into the sunset as an NBA champion, having completed a goal he set out to achieve when joining the franchise as their marquee free-agent addition in 2016. Instead, he’s being the consummate professional we’ve come to love and is honoring the deal he signed with the franchise.
That decision is a boost to the Celtics, who will undoubtedly harbor hopes of going back-to-back next season. Even as he nears his 40th birthday, Horford is an incredibly impactful member of the rotation. He is the veteran voice within the locker room. He embraces the small details that go into winning.
The box score can rarely measure Horford’s impact. What was once used as a barometer to question his value to the Celtics is now used as the podium to cheer his name. The entire Celtics fanbase has embraced his style of winning basketball. His value has never been clearer.
Horford does a significant portion his work in the shadows:
- He sets solid screens
- Manipulates the defense
- Hits his open shots
- Creates for his teammates
- Is a short-roll threat
- He rarely calls his own number
- Battles on the glass
- And he has become a shining light of how a defender can thrive by controlling angles rather than relying on athleticism and explosiveness.
Take a look at the clip above. This is the veteran skill set that Horford brings to the table when he checks into games. Watch how he times his cut to create space for Payton Pritchard. Horford’s cut opens the baseline, allowing Pritchard to attack off the rip-through. The fact that his defender is poorly positioned, with his hips committed toward closing out on Tatum, is just another wrinkle that gives the Celtics an advantage in this possession.
“This is the ultimate compliment — you know what you’re getting,” Mazzulla told the media on Feb. 7.
Sooner or later, Horford will hang up his sneakers. The ever-reliable big won’t always be available for Joe Mazzulla to call on. Plays like the one illustrated above will fall onto the shoulders of a younger center.
The problem is that replacing everything Horford brings to the table will be nearly impossible. This is the same veteran who shot 42% from deep last season and hit 45% from the corners, per Cleaning The Glass. Fortunately for the Celtics, that’s a problem for the future.
Right now, Horford is set to be the starting center for the opening months of the season as Kristaps Porzingis continues to recover from surgery. Mazzulla must manage his veteran’s minutes with expert precision to ensure he’s at his best when the playoffs inevitably roll around. After all, there’s a good chance this is his last run in the league.
So, while it’s easy to get swept up in the ebbs and flows of the season, and the goal of a championship will shine brightly in all of our minds, let’s try to enjoy each and every one of Horford’s minutes. He’s left it all on the line for the fanbase during both spells with the franchise. He’s helped lead a young locker room and show them how to approach the game as professionals.
“I learned a lot from him from a routine standpoint, and as I’ve gotten older, our relationship has grown,” Tatum said on Nov. 15. “It’s based on respect, the respect I have for him and likewise. We know we need each other. Even now he asked me how I’m feeling, how’s my body, that’s who I sit next to on the plane. Al’s like my favorite teammate I’ve ever had.”
Now, Horford will have one final lesson to teach: how to bow out gracefully, on your own terms, when your body decides the moment is right. Whether that’s next summer or two years from now, Horford’s retirement is coming.
Let’s enjoy his diverse contributions and hilarious trolling at the free-throw line while we still can.
