NBA FINALS: CELTICS VS. WARRIORS

June 1, 2022

Al Horford

Boston Celtics

Media Day

Q. How would you say you guys match up against the Warriors? Knowing how they try to pass the ball around, find the open shooter, is it going to be tough trying to defend against them?

AL HORFORD: No question. They're a great team. Been doing this for a lot of years. The way that they move the ball, the way that they play just presents a lot of problems.

So, you know, it's definitely a huge challenge for our group.

Q. How does it feel to be here? You had this long journey to get to this point. It felt like this whole Celtics run started with Marcus getting drafted. How have you seen him grow into the leader of this group in many ways?

AL HORFORD: Yeah, well, it feels great to be here. Just still soaking everything in, being here in San Francisco, being in the Finals. It's something that's exciting.

And then with Marcus, so happy for him, his resiliency, how he's continued to work and stay patient for his opportunities. Now him obviously being our starting point guard, leading us this way this year, winning Defensive Player of the Year, just a lot of great things have come together.

We're at the point that we want to be. Now we have a great opportunity in front of us.

Q. When you look back at December, things looked bad with this team. Internally how bad did it feel at that point? I know it's not one thing that pulled you out of it. What are the things, in your mind, that pulled you out of it?

AL HORFORD: Well, there were several things. You know, in December, November-December, I feel like we were hit with the health and safety protocols, guys in and out of the lineup, guys coming in and out, us, Coach Udoka, new staff, new team, new group, us trying to figure things out.

I know the expectations were high, but things take time. I remember talking about it back then, it's like, hey, we're working towards something and we have to be patient.

A lot of the times we want things to happen fast but it just doesn't happen that way. For us, it took us, in my mind, it was like the end of January that I felt like, I was like, wait, I think it's starting to come together. I think we have a chance.

Those days were very dark, were very hard for us. But my whole thing was, Let's just keep moving along, keep things in perspective. It was very difficult, it was. But it was just like, let's just keep working. I believe in this group. I think Coach Udoka believed in our group, as well.

We just stayed at it eventually until finally we were able to break through.

Q. This being your second tour of duty with the Celtics, obviously you come in with a certain type of expectation. How have those expectations mirrored what you are dealing with from a reality standpoint? Has this been better than what you thought it would be, this year?

AL HORFORD: So once the trade happened here and everything, you know, I texted with Jayson a few times. I told him that I was looking forward for us to being in these positions this coming season. I really believed that. When I shared that with him, I looked at our group, I saw the potential there.

I already played with these guys before; I know what they're about. I just knew that, you know, if we got it together, we were going to have an opportunity, we were going to have a chance. It's something that I believed from the beginning.

We just stayed at it, continued to work. Obviously in the season you're not going to be talking about these things. We talked about it before the season. I strongly believed then, and then throughout, we just kept at it, highs and lows, just continued to work, continued to stay solid.

It doesn't surprise me. I'm really, really happy, really grateful to be at this point with this group.

Q. What do you remember about those early moments when the trade was a discussion point, then it started becoming real? The days in between when it was something to talk about and becoming real, what were some of the things happening behind the scenes that got you excited about the prospect of coming back to Boston for a second tour of duty?

AL HORFORD: Yeah, so exciting for me, but then after that I just kind of got off of it because I didn't want to, you know, think too much about it. I'm like, I'm just going to continue to work, do what I do.

Then when I got the call from Brad, it was really, really exciting. I remember I was driving home with my family from visiting my mom in Atlanta, and we got the call. We're just all screaming in the car, just really, really excited, really, really grateful. Right away we're just making plans about heading back to Boston, doing the physical, doing all this stuff.

It was a really happy time for my family at that time. Especially for me, because it's where I wanted to be. And, yeah, that's that.

Q. From the time you got drafted, I think what's been asked of centers or big men in the NBA has changed dramatically. When did you realize the league was headed in a different direction? How have you been able to adapt, make sure that you're the kind of player that can stay on the floor?

AL HORFORD: So, yeah, that's a really good question.

I feel like the NBA, it has changed a couple times. The different ways, I should say, since I've been in the league. When I first got in, it was being played a certain way, more of a post-up, bully-ball kind of way. Then it started to shift a little bit. Guys, centers shooting midrange and more, and I started to do that.

I remember going into my third year, fourth year, our GM in Atlanta at the time, Rick Sund, told me, he's like, hey you're going to have to -- it was actually after one of my injuries. I had a pec tear. He was like, you're going to have to change the way that you play because the game is physical that way, you're not going to make it, you're not going to make it that many years.

I was very physical, trying to post up against these guys that had 20, 30 pounds on me, things like that. He was like, you're going to have to start practicing the corner threes. You have to start shooting it, get out of your comfort zone. You've got to start shooting that. I could already shoot the midrange a little bit, but he was like, start doing that.

Then Danny Ferry came in a few years after that and started to change the whole culture in Atlanta. They were adamant about with Coach Budenholzer at the time to shoot threes, to get out there and practice. Not judge me, but just let me go out there and just shoot them away. That was the way that I had to start to change my game in that way.

Then it became more of when I got to Boston, with Coach Stevens, it was like, okay, now you're going to handle the ball more at the top, you're going to make decisions and you have to be able to stretch the floor out, but also you have to be able to roll to the basket, do different things.

For me it was always keeping an open mind and understanding this game continues to change. If you don't change your game, you almost become irrelevant, you can't stay on the floor.

The challenge for me has been always finding ways to stay relevant, to be on the floor, find a way to be useful. Obviously, a big part of that is defensively. Defensively I went from guarding in the post and having to stop a guy like Dwight Howard or something like that, to starting to defend guys on the perimeter, having to switch, defend guys out there, prove myself, guard guys out there, guards coming in and out. That's the just the way -- that's how it's evolving.

That also entails preparing yourself physically, mentally, all those things to be able to do those things on the floor.

Q. You mentioned Atlanta. You played for Darvin Ham there for five years. Just got the job with the Lakers. What are your memories of him as a coach at that point? Did you see a future head coach for him? What are they in for with him?

AL HORFORD: Absolutely, man. D-Ham, that's one of my guys. Just so much respect for him. He was one of those guys in Atlanta that kind of took me under his wing. Actually, along with Kenny Atkinson, both of those guys.

But Darvin, extremely hard worker. We really got after it. He really challenged me to be better on the defensive end. Really challenged me to just be a better player in general.

Darvin is about as good a guy as you're going to see, a big competitor. Extreme competitor. The Lakers are really lucky to have a guy like him. He's the kind of guy that you want.