Al Horford parted ways with the Boston Celtics following the 2025 NBA Playoffs. In NBA free agency, the veteran center signed with the Golden State Warriors. It was the second time he left the Celtics in his career.
There were no hard feelings from the Celtics. At the time, it was understood that the Celtics had to go through major changes while dealing with Jayson Tatum’s Achilles injury.
The 2025-2026 NBA season was thought to be a gap year for the Celtics. They might be just competitive enough to make the playoffs, but if they struggled and ended up in a lottery situation, then nobody would’ve been surprised.
The assumption was that Horford would leave for the Warriors to join a sure contender. As the Celtics and the Warriors met on Thursday night coming out of the break, the two clubs were on different terms. The Warriors are in the Western Conference’s Play-In picture, while the Celtics are top three in the Eastern Conference.
For Horford, it looks like a bad move from a basketball standpoint, but the veteran center claimed that his decision to leave wasn’t all about basketball.
“The decision, it’s something that’s deeper than just the basketball stuff,” Horford told reporters on Thursday. “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 joined the Celtics for the first time in 2016, after spending many years with the Atlanta Hawks. He had a successful three-year run, but he left in free agency, joining the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019. Horford received a generous offer from the Celtics’ rival.
The new landing spot didn’t help Horford maintain the success he had in Boston. After 67 games and a short-lived playoff run, Horford was traded in the offseason to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He was limited to 28 games that year before reuniting with the Celtics for the 2021-2022 season.
His four-year stint in Boston was an excellent run. Horford didn’t remain a full-time starter on the back-end of his second stint, but he was critical in helping the Celtics win an NBA Championship in 2024. Once again, something went wrong when it was time to negotiate a new deal.
While Horford won’t reveal the root of the issues just yet, he made it clear that the concerns haven’t changed his thoughts on retiring with the Celtics when that time comes.
“As far as the end of my career, I don’t know. I always keep that open. It would definitely be a privilege to [retire in Boston]. I’m obviously trying to focus on finishing out this year,” Horford finished.
