When the Boston Celtics face off against the Philadelphia 76ers in the season opener, they’ll be met by a former member of the organization who left the franchise both suddenly and unexpectedly in one Al Horford.
Horford, speaking to reporters after Sunday’s practice, would admit that Wednesday’s matchup against his old team would be “different.”
“It’s going to be weird for me,” says Horford. “Different facing my former team.”
However, the fact that’s their matchup is going to be the first game of their respective seasons is “probably as good as a scenario as it can be,” believes Horford.
However, the game won’t just be different because he would be playing against his old teammates and coaches for the first time this season but because the Celtics and Sixers have developed an intense rivalry over the years.
One that exists in part due to their historic rivalry, yes, but also because both Boston and Philadelphia have a propitious young core.
Where the Celtics have Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, the Sixers have Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and now Josh Richardson. Philadelphia’s counterparts are a bit older than the young players in Boston but they’re all objectively better players as well.
Furthermore, the Celtics have fared better in the postseason, going as far as the Eastern Conference Finals in two of the past three seasons. A feat that the Sixers have not yet accomplished.
Such a reality only further ignites the passions fans in Boston who want to see their team leapfrog a team that’s better on paper and fans in Philadelphia who see the Celtics as a threat to the Sixers’ bid for the NBA Finals.
A former third overall pick in the NBA Draft (2007) and a five-time All-Star, Horford has been the model of consistency throughout his career. Spending nine seasons with the Atlanta Hawks, Horford helped lead Atlanta to the playoffs every season that he was there, and he did the same with the Boston Celtics in the three seasons he spent there.
Both organizations came away with a lot of respect for the son of former NBA center Tito Horford, and their team cultures were better off for his team-first attitude and understated leadership.
Qualities that he’s already brought to Philly.
After the first game of the season, Horford is right to think that everyone — meaning he and the Celtics — will be able to “move on” from their shared histories.
Considering he spent a fourth of his career in Boston, he surely has a large amount of respect and appreciation for the organization — which he conveyed on Sunday — but it’s not the most emotionally strenuous meeting a player can have with their former team.
There is no bad blood. No love lost, although Horford left the Celtics at the altar in order to sign with the Sixers.
There were also no championships.
Frankly, Horford’s return to Boston — which will happen for the first time on Dec. 12 — will be even more interesting than the season opener, which will be played at the Wells Fargo Center.
Still, while an additional level of excitement should be expected during the game, the reaction to it shouldn’t be over-the-top.
Just… well… different.
