Al Horford: “I could continue to do those types of displays”

[video/interview/transcript/commentary]

Good thing the Al Horford Experience happened in crunch time at the LA Clippers and on the national stage that the Play-in was.

Not only did that performance demonstrate that the Warriors still have that championship DNA, albeit when fully healthy and rested, but it may have kept Horford from retirement — maybe.

Thanks to a question from Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area at Golden State’s exit interviews a few days ago, it seems like Al still wants to scratch that itch.

“It told me that I have that ability to be able to do that,” said Horford. “And at that point it was like, I work so hard to put myself in those positions and to be able to be in those moments, so when those moments come, or at any point, I feel like I’m capable, that I can do that. I put in a lot of work. I put in a lot of time, but I’m confident that those displays, I could continue to do those types of displays.”

I think we can cross out the retirement option. I love how he used the word “displays”. Ballers always want to “display” their talents.

The only time I really had a moment like that was at the Chinese New Year Tournament eons ago. I scored 21 in front of a packed house in San Francisco’s Chinatown, pushing oneof the mainstays of the tourney, Cornerstone Church, to the brink in a double-elimination format. Even had my name printed in the SF Chronicle in the tiny little “Community Basketball” section where all the other linescores and stats went, on the back page.

However, one big difference: my buckets didn’t come in crunch time. That was always the one thing I couldn’t quite reach at the highest levels — known as “AA” in the nomenclature of the Nippon Athletic Union — of amateur Asian ball. Maybe I’ll delve into that some other day, but if you search on Conant Chi on this website, you’ll get a sense of who are the MVPs of “AA” ball.

After that tournament, I soon found myself as the “Poor Man’s Commish”, building a basketball league across the Bay for the guys that played in the tournaments I had played in, so that was kind of the abrupt end of my serious playing career. I mean, I still had good games in various league play and what not, but never again in front of a meaningful or prestigious tournament crowd, just in mostly empty gyms.

But yeah, if there was ever an itch to hoop, “displays” are it. And Al can do them at the highest level on the planet and in peak crunch time.

So if I’ve experienced putting on a display in non-crunch time, I can only imagine its effects in crunch time, as Al showed us. Based on that, I’ll guess he’s coming back. The chance to display can sometimes be that much of an addiction.

But the next problem is, in my opinion, maybe the Boston Celtics want him back, too? I have not delved into this much yet, and perhaps my colleague, salary cap expert Yossi Gozlan of Third Apron has some ideas, but I would think the Celtics sneaking Al in at around a Taxpayer Midlevel Exception ($6-ish million) would not be that difficult and they could theoretically offer him a one-plus-one just like the Warriors did, if their cap sheet allows.

But I doubt Al is getting an offer anywhere near the TPMLE from any other team besides the Celtics, hypothetically.

Also, Horford addressed previous cryptic statements about Boston, see transcript below, but it did sound like the Celtics chapter of his career is over. You never know.

For now, them and Denver are the only other team out there that are championship-caliber and could value someone as old as Horford, but the Nuggets already have $10 million committed to Jonas Valanciunas next season. Whew! 😅

This might not be resolved until the deadline for player options, which is June 29th, about a week after the 2026 Draft. What happens with the Draft Lottery as well as Horford taking or passing on his player option will help clue us in on how the roster will look.

The way things stand with the cap sheet and the aprons right now, it looks like the Warriors can keep either Horford or De’Anthony Melton, but not both. Here’s a primer for the 2026-27 salary cap sheet situation, joined by my co-host Dean “of Positivity” Chambers:

Of course, the big Steve Kerr decision could branch off an entirely new Warriors universe, so there’s always that. We will talk about that more as I determine whether or not it is worth my time to transcribe the super-awesome Warriors Plus-Minus pod that Tim Kawakami of the SF Standard and Marcus Thompson and Nick Friedell of The Athletic did postgame Phoenix in dissecting Kerr’s impending decision — which obviously also involves Joe Lacob, Mike Dunleavy, Jr. and one Wardell Stephen Curry — but for now, my thought is that the Draft Lottery on May 10th is important.

Shouldn’t the results of the Lottery serve as a data point towards Kerr staying as head coach or not?

Full transcript of Horford behind the paywall…