SAN FRANCISCO — The Celtics, throughout last summer, publicly said they’d love to keep their free agent big men which included Al Horford. But Horford chose the Warriors in free agency, ending a successful second stint with the organization that included the 2024 NBA championship.
Back when Horford signed with the Warriors, he spoke about wanting an opportunity to compete for another title. But ahead of the Celtics’ win over the Warriors on Thursday at Chase Center, Horford gave a cryptic reason for why he chose Golden State through free agency.
“For me, the decision, it’s something that’s deeper than just the basketball stuff of it,” Horford said. “And it’s something that, at some point, I’ll share with people. But for me it felt like it was the time for me to go elsewhere.”
Horford, 39, reflected Thursday on his time with the Celtics, praising the organization for a successful season. The C’s have exceeded every preseason expectation, sitting near the top of the East standings. Horford credited C’s coach Joe Mazzulla and key players like Jaylen Brown for keeping the winning culture going in Boston.
Horford spent two separate stints with the Celtics from 2016-19 then again from 2021-25. His former Celtics teammates still rave about his professionalism. Jayson Tatum has spoken multiple times about how Horford is one of his favorite veteran teammates ever.
“If you think about last year, we had a lot of guys down throughout the year and we were playing a lot of the times missing players,” Horford said. “But we were still winning a lot of games. So I feel like that was a blueprint right there. This year I just think that guys are comfortable playing in that situation.”
Horford is in his 18th season in the NBA, plus there were some retirement rumors last summer. So it’s unclear when he could retire, though he does have a $6 million player option for next season with the Warriors. Horford is still a contributor for the Warriors this season, but it’s also clear he’s winding down a long, successful career.
When asked if he would consider retiring with the Celtics, he kept that door open. However, all those decisions are for the future.
“As far as the end of my career, I don’t know,” Horford said. “I mean, I always keep that open. It would definitely be a privilege to do that. But I’m just obviously just trying to focus on finishing out this year.”