"This Is Just How I Pictured It" - Al Horford Talking About Finally Becoming An NBA Champion Is Everything
This is it. This is the one. One of the biggest underlying goals/storylines/etc of the entire 2024 season was getting Al Horford the ring he so desperately deserved. After blowing their shot in 2022 and then falling short again in painful fashion in 2023, getting this done for Al is without a doubt the best part of this championship.
Finally, they got Al his ring.
Al Horford is way too good of a player/human to forever be without a ring. He didn't deserve to be left on that list with the most career playoff games without a title. That list is meant for losers, and Al Horford is a winner. Sorry, excuse me. Al Horford is an NBA Champion. Go ahead and say that again to yourself out loud. God damn does that feel good.
And you can clearly see what it means to him. Just watch that clip. He's right too, this all started 8 years ago when he decided to team up with Isaiah. The Celtics for my entire life had never got the big free agent. They weren't a destination. Then the Isaiah season happened, Horford saw what was possible here and the rest is history. He even tore down the Sixers from within as a sleeper cell for good measure. It's not an accident that the first thing Brad Stevens did when he got the keys to the roster was to trade back for Al Horford. Since the day he got to Boston the first time, Al Horford has been the heart of everything this team does. How they play, their success, and their mindset. He never complains, he always does the right thing, and a player like that deserves to be rewarded by the Basketball Gods.
Now that it's happened, it also pretty much stamps his case for the HOF. Horford probably got in anyways given what he did in college, but now with an NBA title? Yeah, that shit is stamped too and you know what? Nobody deserves it more.