Horford ‘excited’ to chase title in Philly
LAS VEGAS — Just as when he left Atlanta for Boston, Al Horford is very excited about his new landing spot.
The former Celtic, whose decision to accept a fouryear, $109 million offer from the Sixers caught the brain trust on Causeway Street off-guard, was introduced at a press conference to the Philadelphia media yesterday. Not surprisingly, his words were similar to those he used back in 2016, when the Celtics showed far more promise than a deteriorating Hawks team.
The Celtics, still recovering from one of the most disappointing seasons in their history, now apparently have something in common with those Hawks.
“That was a priority for me,” Horford said of the chance to win a title. “I think the opportunity to play for this type of organization, for this city, was something that I really had to consider and look at.
“And then when you add the potential of this group and what I’ve seen — coach (Brett) Brown leading the way, and obviously Joel (Embiid), Ben (Simmons), Tobias (Harris) and all the upside that we have,” he said. “And now we’ve just finished assembling our group.”
“Every time I kept looking at and seeing the players that we were signing, I kept getting more excited. We got Kyle (O’Quinn), I was like, ‘Yes.’ I saw that Josh (Richardson) came through, (James) Ennis re-signed, saw that ( Raul) Neto got here. We’ve got a good group here and that really got me excited — got me even more excited. I felt like we were in a good place and I feel really good about our future.”
Beyond the money — far more than the Celtics were able to offer — and a fresh chance to at least reach the NBA Finals, other factors came into play as well. Horford and Philadelphia general manager Elton Brand are former Hawks teammates. And then he gets to play with Embiid, as opposed to having to put his body on the line against one of the most powerful centers in the game.
“I have a lot of respect for Elton,” Horford said. “I got to watch him as a younger player and see how professional he was, how he took care of his body. I really respected him just seeing how he did it when he was with us.
“I’ll tell you a quick story about him,” he added. “We were getting ready to go to dinner one night, some of the guys and I, and we’re about to get in the elevator. We get into a city that’s — you go out and have dinner. He was just in the elevator going to his room, but he was coming from the gym— sweating. He just did like an hour of cardio and he was just drenched. His commitment to wanting to win and do the right things inspired me back then and I think that he believes in me, he believes in this group and what we can do.
“And when they came knocking and approached me, it felt right. And that’s why I’m excited to be here. Because I know that he wants what’s best for this city — for Philadelphia — and what we’re trying to do.”
Waters tragedy
Tremont Waters, the Celtics rookie from LSU who grew up in New Haven, Conn., received tragic news yesterday. The body of his father, Ed Waters, was found in a motel in West Haven, Conn., on Thursday. Authorities have listed the probable cause of death as suicide.
Though Waters was still with the team yesterday, his travel plans were unclear.
“The team supports Tremont in whatever he decides to do,” a team spokesman said.
Waters’ parents referred to themselves as Team Waters.
“I always taught him how to be a great young man,” Ed Waters told the New Haven Register in 2013. “What I love about sports, basketball teaches him leadership, how to lead by example, and how to be responsible for other people. I just want him to one day get a degree from college and be able to feed himself, his loved ones, his kids later on in life. We love basketball, but it’s all about what type of young man he’s going to be, what type of husband, what type of father, a leader in his own community.”