Horford center of evolution
LOS ANGELES — The position of center in the NBA has never been more ill-defined.
“The way they play the game now, the emphasis on the 3-point shot has changed a lot of the dynamics,” perhaps the greatest ever, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, said yesterday. “But you still have to have guys out there who make you a solid team defensively.”
His rebounding ability can be a flashpoint, but there’s little doubt about Al Horford’s ability to tie a team together defensively. It’s everything else about the Celtics center’s game that is defying definition. His appearance along with fellow big men Joel Embiid, Andre Drummond and Lauri Markkanen in last night’s NBA skills competition is a sign of this ever-morphing position. Horford, the victim of three missed 3-pointers, lost to Embiid in the first round.
Two seasons into his Celtics career, Horford’s game still can be polarizing. His ability to fill a box score is belied by the fact that his scoring and rebounding numbers aren’t big enough — not for his critics, anyway.
But Kyrie Irving, when asked that question about his teammate yesterday, turned a little somber when he said, “You do promote winning, and he’s been a big part of our team in terms of our success. That should be rewarded. It’s pretty simple. What he’s done for us in mentoring these young guys and keeping us prepared from game to game. He offers a lot of versatility.”
At 30, Horford admits his game is still changing, more than ever, as perimeter-order big men continue to take over the game.
Though he’s about to play in his fifth NBA AllStar Game tonight, Horford sometimes gets the sense that he’s trying to catch up with an NBA trend he is helping to define.
“It will take time. People are always used to these stereotypes and things that a big man should be and what he should do, and people are going to start embracing it,” he said. “You have so many of these guys, Joel Embiid, Markkanen, (Kristaps) Porzingis — a lot of guys are coming in with that skill set. It gives a lot of the high-school players and younger players hope that they can do everything on the floor. When I was coming up, it was, oh, get on the block and do that.”
Sounds like something his critics would say now. But there’s no going back to the old-style game, he said.
“It’s changed my game completely. From when I came into the league to now, I’m a totally different player,” he said. “I was always in the block and the paint area, and I shot some mid-range, but not a lot. It’s changed my game in the way I think, but also I think it’s changed my game for the better. Helped me extend my career and play at a higher level for a longer time.
“I think it’s changed my game, just the way the game is changing and it keeps changing. I want to be one of those players who adjust and keep getting better, and re-learning how to play the game and be most effective,” he said. “Anything I can do, I’m just trying to take the steps toward that — developing the 3 now. You look at these guys coming in, like Giannis (Antetokounmpo) and Ben Simmons — guys with the ability to handle the ball, play pick-and-roll, things you always considered being guard things. Everybody will have to be able to do that.”
Irving believes that perimeter-oriented big men are only part of the trend.
“Along with Al and other guys, and knowing the prototypical 4 man and knowing the roles, people kind of have an ideal of what they should be doing,” said Irving. “It’s changing along with guard play. The game is getting better in very unique ways. Guys are stepping away more, playing more perimeter-based, creating a lot more opportunities, lot more spacing.”
And big men now account for half of the NBA skills competition’s field.
“That’s easy for Al, man, shooting and dribbling a basketball, weaving through defenders a little bit,” said Irving. “It will be fun for him.”