Al Horford left the Atlanta Hawks for the Boston Celtics on Saturday evening and said the fans in both cities were reasons for the move.
The first big domino to fall in NBA free agency happened on Saturday evening with Al Horford leaving the Atlanta Hawks in favor of the Boston Celtics. Horford will sign a four-year, $113 million deal to join the tradition-rich Celtics after playing his entire career in Atlanta after the Hawks took him with the No. 3 pick after winning back-to-back national championships with the Florida Gators.
Atlanta thought they had done enough to keep Horford in town, but ultimately, fell $6 million shy to keep the veteran big man who threw his old fans under the bus after agreeing to terms with Boston.
Horford’s dad Tito spoke with Adam Himmelsbach and relayed a conversation he had with his son when he saw empty seats in Atlanta when the Hawks were winning compared to a raucous arena when he’d visit Boston.
“There wasn’t as much motivation for him when he saw all the empty seats when they were winning,” Tito Horford said, via The Boston Globe’s Adam Himmelsbach. “He said to me, ‘Dad, when we were playing Boston, they were down 15 points and they were cheering their team like they were winning the game. They’re so into the game.’ This is special for us, especially for him.
“Ever since Boston, Danny Ainge and the whole organization began to show interest in him, that opened his eyes. He always had a good feel about Boston.”
Surely, the environment played a factor in Horford’s decision to sign with the Celtics, but it was also just one of many factors Horford had to consider when making this decision that makes the Celtics a contender to threaten the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference.
Nevertheless, it’s not going to sit well in Atlanta where they supported Horford for years only to see him leave for more money and have his dad trash the team on the way out.
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