Al Horford's sister Anna Horford shuts down Celtics center's NBA retirement rumors with 2 words
After winning the 2024 NBA championship with the Boston Celtics, it looked like Al Horford was ready to retire. However, his sister, Anna, has shut down the rumors.
Legon Hoops quoted Horford allegedly saying he was ready to retire. The page cited the Celtics' X account as the source of the quote.
Anna addressed the rumors right away.
"Yeah, no," Anna posted on X.
Shortly after winning the 2024 championship, Horford said he hadn't considered retirement.
"I’m coming back. That’s the plan. We've already talked about our offseason, how it's gonna look like. I need to take a little time off right now but I’ll start training in a couple weeks again and kinda get it going and build it back up and [I'm] ready to go," Horford said.
When asked if he was planning on retiring any time soon, the veteran forward said:
"No, not really. I feel good, I want to keep it going. I know I have to be cautious with how I approach the season and how I go throughout the season."
Al Horford-Celtics reunion critical to team's turnaround in 2021
Al Horford's return to the Boston Celtics in 2021 after it seemed like his time in the NBA was nearly over following an underwhelming stint with the up-and-coming OKC Thunder changed the team's fortunes.
Boston found the veteran presence it needed around then-emerging stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Horford reminded everyone he was just as efficient of a contributor in the court despite age catching up.
The C's returned to the finals in his first season back. Horford played and started 69 games that season, averaging 10.2 points, 6.2 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.3 blocks per contest. A versatile force on both ends, Horford's presence gave C's the dynamic edge as one of the league's top two-way teams.
The veteran again bagged a full-time starting role the following year (2022-23). He was second in the league in 3-point shooting efficiency, converting 44.6% of his attempts while tallying 9.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 3.0 apg and 1.0 bpg.
The Celtics fell short that year, losing 4-3 in the conference finals to the Heat. In his third season since returning to Boston (2023-24), Horford was demoted to a bench role in Kristaps Porzingis' favor. He started 33 out of 65 games, though, filling in for injured starters. Horford's contributions on both ends remained impactful.
He averaged 8.6 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.6 apg and 1.0 bpg, shooting on 51/42/87 splits. The Celtics finished with a league-best 64-win season and won their 18th title. Al Horford came up huge in the postseason for them again, starting 15 out of 10 games, with Porzingis getting injured in the first round.
The 38-year-old tallied 9.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg and 2.1 apg in the playoffs, shooting 47.8%, including 36.8% from 3. The Celtics lost only three games en route to their title success.
Al Horford hasn't shown many signs of slowing down with his efforts over the past year, so it isn't surprising that he wants to continue playing for as long as he can.