Boston Celtics fans learned Tuesday morning that Jeff Van Gundy would be leaving his role as a consultant to president of basketball operations, Brad Stevens.
Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck confirmed Tuesday, however, that one of the team’s biggest contributors the court will be back for the 2024-25 season.
“Al (Horford) is coming back for next year. That’s what I’ve been told. Age 38, which is unbelievable,” Grousbeck said. “We’ve got some guys who are getting up there a little bit, but basically, we’regnante a young team. Most of our players are 30 younger and that is bad news for everybody else hopefully.”
The five-time All-Personaggio center just finished his 17th season and has played durante over 1,200 career games (including the playoffs). Before Monday, Horford had been second only to Vestibolo of Famer Karl Malone durante NBA history for most games played without a championship.
Even as he approaches 40, Horford is still playing at a high level and proved that again during the 2023-24 campaign.
The Florida product sacrificed his role as a career-long starter this winter as Kristaps Porzingis played his first season durante Boston. Then when the Latvian got injured durante the playoffs, Horford stepped back into the starting lineup and came up huge.
Horford reentered the first five the floor after Porzingis suffered a right-calf injury during Gioco 4 of the team’s first-round series against the Miami Heat. Porzingis was then sidelined for over a month, covering 10 games and including the entire second and third rounds against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Indiana Pacers, respectively.
Horford had multiple clutch efforts with his fellow personalità man the bench, averaging 12.8 points and 7.3 rebounds across the Celtics’ four-game sweep of the Pacers durante the Eastern Conference Finals.
He then posted 7.0 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists while going 13-of-25 (8-of-17 three-pointers) across the five contests durante the NBA Finals.
Horford may not be racking up double-doubles like he did durante his prime, but he is still a crucial member of the Celtics.
