Speaks to Al’s impact
Ex-coach moved by Horford departure
The plan was for the story to be written later during the Celtics’ series with Milwaukee. People had given the Bucks up for dead after just one game, and while that certainly wasn’t expected to be the case in anything of a quick manner, there appeared to be ample time to write an Al Horford story from the perspective of his former coach.
The fact the Celts imploded so hideously in Games 2 through 5 got in the way of the editorial plan, but the words from Milwaukee (and former Atlanta) coach Mike Budenholzer sat waiting in the notebook.
With Horford about to leave the Celts for Philadelphia, it seems many of them easily could be attributed to Brad Stevens once the move becomes official and the C’s leader is able to speak on the matter.
Budenholzer was looking back on July 2016 when Horford had his pick of max contract suitors and chose to go from Atlanta to Boston. He had watched Al put up 20 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots in Game 1, and he was thinking about how it was to have Horford on his side — and then have to watch him depart.
“It’s hard,” Budenholzer told the Herald. “It’s definitely probably the hardest moment for me and just a relationship with a player. But these guys earn the right to be free agents and make decisions and go where they feel like they have the best chance for themselves individually and team-wise and family-wise.
“I will always respect Al in his decisions and how he’s handled himself. He’s nothing but a pro and just somebody I have a ton of respect and admiration for.”
Go back and read those two paragraphs again in Stevens’ voice. It’s not hard to imagine.
Horford was the Hawks’ rock for Budenholzer’s first three years as an NBA head coach, and it’s clear he had an effect on the career of the guy who had spent 17 years as an assistant in San Antonio.
“He’s just so coachable, and he wants to do whatever it takes to win. He’s just so selfless,” Budenholzer said. “I think as a first-time head coach, you have some ideals about selflessness and winning and the character that you want your team to have, and when your best player, or one of the best players, just naturally has all those things, it just makes you feel like you have a chance to instill those characteristics in your team. Al has those just naturally, and they’re very genuine. There’s no (expletive).
“I think I’ve been raised and come from a culture where you just play and you do your job, and there’s nothing too sexy or exciting. We love what we do, but then we go home to our families and go home to our lives. And the way he handles his work and his professionalism, there were just so many ways where I think the fit between he and I was really very, very good.”
By the end of his time with the Celtics, Horford was not the marquee talent, but the following statements still hold water, in that he was a veteran with All-Star credentials.
“When you can coach your best player, it really sets a tone for film sessions, for the locker room, for your organization,” Budenholzer said. “It’s just true that when the seventh or eighth guy needs to be coach and he knows the top dogs are getting coached, I think they’re more open to it. If they were hesitant or resistant, they know Al’s being coached, or when Al’s taking whatever it is that we think is important for him getting better, then everybody else sees that and they appreciate it.”
In discussing the moment he learned Horford was leaving, Budenholzer expressed some emotions that Stevens no doubt will find relatable.
Asked if he broke any furniture when he heard the news, Budenholzer laughed at first.
“It was a different kind of emotion,” he said. “I just definitely wish we had more time together.
“It was an important moment organizationally, but you just have to go to the next step, the next option and just figure out how you can continue to make the best decisions you can. But it was a big moment organizationally.”
The recent Horford news probably wasn’t as monumental for the Celtics as it was the Hawks, but it still will be very difficult for Stevens this season when he isn’t able to rely on the big man.