Boston — When Al Horford was 14, he moved from the Dominican Republic, where his mother was raised in Santo Domingo, to Michigan, where his father and four brothers and sisters lived.
“It was great,” said Al’s sister Anna Horford, 29. “He helped raise us.”
He babysat his brothers and they played baseball, volleyball or basketball in the backyard. Anna remembered that Al skipped the high school party and was with them.
When they are old enough to go to the party on their own, he advises them, encourages them to be safe, and calls him if they need a ride.
“He always plays the role of dad,” Anna said. “He’s about six years older than the next older Horford kid. He’s always older, and in a way he’s always paved the way. I think he’s the same with the Celtics. “
She added: “He’s joking that he’s like the dad of the Celtics team, because he’ll always line up everyone, or when he speaks, they really listen, pay attention, and tell him. I try to pay that respect. “
Earlier this season, 36-year-old Al Horford was the only Celtics player in his thirties. Boston’s core group includes Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, and Marcus Smart. These just started the NBA’s journey six years before Horford first became Celtic.
He left Boston a bit before returning to the season, providing veteran leadership and stability to the young Celtics team. His presence and his play helped Boston advance the franchise’s 18th championship.
“They are different, growing and much better,” Horford said of Tatam, Brown and Smart. “This is a kind of their team. It’s like their time, do you know? And I’m glad to be able to join it now.”
Horford became the first Dominican player to compete in the NBA Finals when Boston defeated the Miami Heat in Round 7 and won the Eastern Conference Championship. During his tenure in Atlanta, Boston and Philadelphia, he played more than any other player in 141 playoff games without playing in the finals.
The emotional overflow he showed when the Celtics celebrated the title of the conference reflected how meaningful it was to him. But that also made a lot of sense for his teammates.
“No one deserves it more than this guy on my right, the guy here,” Brown said that night. “His energy, attitude, coming every day, professional, body-care and leader-I’m proud to share this moment with veterans, mentors, brothers and guys like this: Al Horford. Ford, man. “
The Celtics drafted Brown in 2016, weeks before Horford signed a four-year contract with the team. The following summer, Boston chose Tatum, who was third overall. Smart was the sixth draft overall in 2014.
Horford spent three years in Boston and two years in Brown, Tatum and Smart, and the Celtics played twice in the conference finals and lost once in the conference semifinals. He opted out of the last year of his contract in 2019 and joined the 76ers as a free agent.
In December 2020, 76ers replaced him with the Oklahoma City Thunder, which he rarely used. In June 2021, Boston traded with Thunder to get him back.
“I believe everything happens for a reason,” Horford said. “This was the time when they grew up, and it was the time when I grew up. I got a different perspective and I am even more grateful for what is here now.”
Horford was in the car with his family when Brad Stevens, president of Celtics’ basketball business and former head coach of the team, called on Horford to talk about trade. .. They were all excited and started screaming.
“I think it feels like his hometown,” Anna Horford said of Boston. “This is the first place he played where he was old enough to notice that his kids were in the game. Ein was a baby in Atlanta. He went to school here. I go, make friends here, and so do the other kids. This was the first place the whole family really felt like home. “
Home is a concept that is especially meaningful for temporary people like Horford.
In Santo Domingo, his mother, Alleris Reinoso, was a sports journalist and occasionally put him on duty.
“I felt like I was really independent of that really young age,” Horford said. “It was very special. I was with my mom at that time.”
He moved to Michigan for high school and went to a university in Florida. There he won two national championships with two other players with remarkable NBA careers, Joakim Noah and Corey Brewer.
The Hawks drafted him third overall in 2007, and while playing in Atlanta, he created the first four of the five All-Star teams.
The seeds of his long career were planted there.
“I saw his daily habits,” said Kenny Atkinson, Hawks’ assistant coach, while Horford was playing there. “Al will be like Nolan Ryan. He will play until he is 45. He is very impeccable about it.”
Atkinson helped Horford develop a three-point shooter. This also helped to extend his career in leagues that are phased out of non-shooting big names.
Atkinson is currently an assistant in the Golden State. He spoke the day after Horford scored 26 points and scored six three points in the Golden State in Game 1 of Boston.
What does he think of how Horford’s career continues?
“I hate it,” Atkinson said, Deadpan. “But I’m not surprised.”
Upon returning to Boston, Horford sought to share the habits he had developed over time with his young teammates. They were willing to accept the advice.
“When I see them talking to Al, it’s like a teacher and a student,” said third-year student Juwan Morgan, who signed with Boston just before the end of the regular season. “You can just see the element of respect. When Al speaks, everyone just keeps silent and listens because they know it’s in the team’s interest.”
Horford called it mutual respect.
“We’re trying to be a good example for them,” Horford said. “I’m guiding them and just trying to help them. They know what I’m doing — I want to play the right way, I want to do things the right way on the court. , Do things the right way, even outside the courtroom. “
It’s the same language that Horford uses when talking to his younger brothers about how he taught them.
“For me, it’s important to help them in some way so that they can thrive on what they choose in their lives,” Horford said.
He seems to have inherited the spirit of the caretaker to his son.
Ein is 7 years old in a crowd full of curly black heads. He loves basketball and hangs out in the locker room with his father’s colleague. After games 1 and 3 of the NBA Finals, Al Horford held his hand on the podium and was able to participate in post-match interviews. After Game 1, Ean winked at the camera.
“He has a great influence on his sisters,” Al said. “My second aria, she is now more interested in basketball.”
Unlike my brother Aria (5 years old), I couldn’t participate in Game 3 because the start time was too late at 9 pm in the east. But she wanted to go so badly that she drew a picture of Al, her wife Amelia Vega, and Ein in the game and put it on her father’s bed so that she could see it when she got home.
“I felt sick this morning. I was like,’You’re in Game 4,'” Al said with a laugh. “That is, my third Ava will have her join the game too. There’s no way she won’t come back.”
Horford sees a lot of himself in his son, especially with his observation skills and competitive fires.
In Ein, we also see children who love their responsibility to be older brothers, protect their younger brothers, and love teaching. That’s another thing he shares with his father.