Al Horford and the Boston Celtics are two wins away from capturing an NBA title, but his family still seems upset about his brutal one-season stint with the Philadelphia 76ers.
Horford's family -- most notably his sister Anna -- is very active on social media in supporting (and sometimes defending) his play. Anna, along with Horford's sister Maria and brother Josh spoke to Jared Weiss of The Athletic and had some strong thoughts about the perceived treatment of his brother during the 2019-20 season:
The whole family, it seems, never moved on from Boston. They were fixtures at games, and Anna became a social media sensation while her brother was a foundational piece of the organization. She was heartbroken when he texted his siblings he was signing with the Sixers minutes before the news broke.
“We stayed Celtics fans when he was in Philly and when he was in OKC. We couldn’t let go,” Maria said. “They showed us so much love, and that wasn’t something we were ready to let go of, so we just never did. And we’re back!”
“Philly fans hated us there,” Anna added. “They hated us for it.”
“We continued to root for Boston, because they’re not d---heads,” said Josh.
After spending three seasons with the Celtics, Horford signed a four-year/$97 million deal free-agent contract to join the Sixers ahead of the 2019-20 season. In hindsight, signing someone entering their age-33 season to such a deal probably wasn't smart. It felt even more like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole when you consider that the Sixers were already built around a big man in Joel Embiid.
But when you sign such a large contract -- and in effect, replace Jimmy Butler as one of the team's three stars -- you're going to be held to a high standard. Horford averaged just 11.9 points per game in what turned out to be his lone season in Philadelphia, with the Sixers ultimately being swept by the Celtics in the first round of the NBA playoffs. Naturally, there was frustration from fans of the team.
After spending a year with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Horford is back with the Celtics. Two years after averaging just seven points a game in the postseason bubble, Horford is averaging 12.1 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per game. Where his free throw percentage was 57.1% for the Sixers two postseasons ago, it's 75.9% in these playoffs. Had Horford performed like this and helped put the Sixers on the cusp of winning the NBA Finals, he would have been as beloved in Philadelphia as he is in Boston. That's the nature of the business.
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