Al Horford’s New Role with the Boston Celtics
The 2023-24 Boston Celtics are not the same team as in previous seasons. The management decided to transform the roster, parting ways with several players, including some who were part of their identity.
In the process, they acquired interesting pieces with the goal of finally taking the next step: to stop competing, to always be among the favorites, and to finally win an NBA championship.
Gone are the days of Marcus Smart, Malcolm Brogdon, and Grant Williams, and welcome to the new path with Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis. These are the revamped Boston Celtics.
But the change not only comes in the names on the roster, but also in the new roles adopted by the team’s key figures, and nothing is more significant than the change Al Horford will go through.
In his career with the Boston Celtics, Al Horford had never come off the bench in 340 games. He had started in 1,001 out of 1,013 total games in his career, which also includes stints with Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Oklahoma City.
The starting five for the early games of the season under coach Joe Mazzulla has been Porzingis, Holiday, Derrick White, Jaylen Brown, and of course Jayson Tatum. This has resulted in Al Horford, who used to hold the position as the main man in the paint, averaging just over 30 minutes per game, being benched.
Entering his 17th season in the NBA, Horford is the most experienced player on the Celtics roster. It seems that both the coaching staff and the management, represented by Brad Stevens, want to keep him fresh for the postseason.
Horford will continue to be an important figure for Boston, although not in the role we were accustomed to. In his first two games of the season, he played around 25 minutes with contrasting results, not scoring any points in the most recent game.
As Al Horford continues to play an important role for the Boston Celtics, at 37 years old (turning 38 in June), it seems unsustainable for him to maintain the level the team expects throughout a long season. He remains an important voice in the locker room with reduced minutes but is equally relevant to the Celtics’ aspirations.
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