BOSTON — Two seasons ago, Al Horford was 36 and in the last year of his contract. Checking the odometer in his 16th NBA year, there was room to wonder if this might be it.
But there was no question in his mind.
“I want to keep playing,” he told Heavy Sports then.
Two weeks later, the Celtics took him up on it and signed the big man to a two-year, $19.5 million extension.
Sunday night before the Celts took on Washington, it was essentially the same situation as I approached Horford at his locker following his early workout.
“What do you got?” he asked.
Noting that previous story, he was told, “Same question as last time.”
Horford smiled and nodded.
“I’m still very hungry, very driven, so I want to continue to play,” he said.
Two months shy of his 39th birthday, the 6-9 Horford is still capable of big nights. He went for 26 points in Memphis last week and has hit double figures in rebounds seven times this season, all while averaging a modest 27.6 minutes and sitting out half of each back-to-back.
“I mean, I feel good,” he told Heavy. “It’s obviously a lot of work for me to maintain and be out here to perform, but… I love it. I mean, I love it.
“So, yeah, I want to keep playing. This is good.”
Asked if he’d spoken to the team about a new contract, Horford said, “Not really. My whole thing was I don’t want this to be even a topic. You know, we’re locked in on what we’re supposed to do now, and that’s kind of that.”
And he wasn’t into discussing compensation. His last two deals, each for four years, averaged north of $28 million and $29 million. The most recent extension was extremely team-friendly, and if there is to be another pact here, there will likely need to be some creativity, with the Celtics far into the luxury tax.
But the club still very much needs what Horford provides, even in largely a back-up role. And that need will become even greater in the playoffs. Therefore, talking dollars now makes no sense.
“I just look at the opportunity that’s in front of us now, and, you know, you’ve got to take advantage of this,” he said. “You play in the league a lot of years, and to be in a team that’s contending and playing at a high level, I mean, it doesn’t get any better than that.”
One wonders whether even he would have believed he’d be this effective 18 years after running away with the NBA circus.
Horford then repeated a story he’d told for the piece two years ago — that then-president of basketball operations Danny Ainge had told him in his second year as a Celtic — when he was a mere child of 31 — that he could play until his late 30s or even 40.
“I feel like ever since I’ve been here people have always made a really big deal about my age,” Horford said. “Like, when I signed here, I was 30, and people were like, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s 30 years old and we’re giving him a max contract.’
“So when Danny said that then, I was thinking, ‘Yeah, it could be. I feel like I can keep myself ready to play.’ But, to answer your question, to be at this level, it’s pretty special. Obviously there’s a lot of things that go into it, but when Danny said that, I kind of felt the same way, too. But it’s one thing to say something. It’s another thing that all that time passes, and can you be in this position still?
“It really caught me off guard. It was random, and he hit me with it. It was literally my second year here, and, ‘Man, you’re already thinking about seven-eight years from now?'”
It’s a little easier for Horford to consider the future when he’s part of this Celtic situation. Beyond the larger sense of team success, there’s the big-man brigade of which he is part. With Kristaps Porzingis, Luke Kornet, Neemias Queta and Horford, the pressure is shared.
“Having a group of guys like this, I think we help one another,” Horford said. “I feel like we try to make the game easier for each other, and we can lean on one another. Having Luke, he’s so reliable, and knowing what Neemy can bring when his name is called… and obviously with KP, for all of us, there’s that healthy balance that we can lean on each other and get this done.
“We’ve got a good thing going.”
A thing Al Horford has no plans to leave.
