preface:
As we all know, Durant brought his talent to the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 offseason, and in fact, before going to the Golden State Warriors, he was hesitant to join the Celtics, but at that time, it was the stronger Warriors. After the Celtics missed Durant that year, they also got a treasure in the free agent market, that is, Al Horford, who played for the Celtics twice to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals, once in the second round of the Eastern Conference. Another glorious period for the Celts was witnessed by Horford. Now second in the house, Horford helped the Celtics sweep the Nets, and as a veteran of the team, he is very precious.
Fix the sea god needle
Horford is the first all-Star player in Boston to join as a free agent since the dissolution of the Big Three, and his joining has also brought new vitality to this Quagmire Celtics, the first year of joining the team, the Celtics won the first record in the East, and Horford's performance is also obvious to all, although from the data point of view, he is not that top level, but the help for the team can not be reflected by data, he is the kind of traditional interior line, can be the central axis of a team's needle. He played a crucial role from the first moment he joined the Celtics, and Horford also had a small three-pointer, a feature that was vividly displayed by the Celtics.
In the team's first two seasons, the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals, although the Celtics were powerless against the Cavaliers in their first year. But in just a few years of rebuilding, the speed of change of the Celtics surprised everyone, and this is how Horford helped this young ball. In 2018, the Celtics almost gave up half of the salary space without Irving and Hayward, but the team still reached the Eastern Conference Finals, the young Tatum and Brown are of course the first heroes of the team, and Horford, a veteran, sits on the inside, whether it is alphabet brother or others are not the Celtics.
However, after the team experienced a defeat in 2019, it chose to send Horford out, and for this team, it still needs a player with this ability. After he left, although the Celtics reached the Eastern Conference Finals in the park, it was obvious that they were still far from competing for the title, and after Horford returned this season, he was still the anchor of this team, although he was much older than before, but still played a very important role, you can see his performance in the playoffs, hit the key bottom corner three points, assist KD, it is difficult to imagine that this is an inner player to do, Horford in the Celtics also did more with less.
And KD's bad luck
This year, Horford played a crucial role in sweeping the Nets with the Celtics in the first round, and his opponent was Durant, who entered the league in the 2007 NBA draft and his own period. That year, Durant was the top spot, and Horford was the probing flower, it seems that fate has long since made the two players have an indissoluble relationship from that period, the time is set back to 2016, when Durant was choosing the next home, when in many teams chasing Durant, the Celtics also occupied a place, Durant even once said that he had hoped to be selected by the Celtics in 2007, which gave Celtic fans a lot of confidence.
In the end, Durant also decided to choose between the Warriors and the Celtics, and among all the teams that Durant met at that time, the Celtics were the team he met the most, at one point reaching six hours, including the young marshal, the Celtics had heads and faces, almost all of whom were present, but Durant's final choice was the Golden State Warriors. At that time, the Celtics seemed to be put together, and in the end they could only sign El Horford, otherwise they would have nothing to do in the offseason, it seemed that there was providence in the dark, and it was the Celtics who had Horford who eliminated Durant this year, and Horford also had an indissoluble relationship with Durant.
Chase greatness
The Celtics have the most glorious team history in NBA history, this team has been known for producing superstar-like interior players, starting from the Bill Russell era to Chief Parrish, followed by Garnett, which is the inheritance of the green interior line from generation to generation, and Horford has become the most important interior line of the Celtics in the second decade of the 20th century, and this season his return to the Celtics also has another opportunity to chase greatness, and now the Celtics have the strength to compete for the championship, and Horford is also an important part of them.
Although this year's Horford is 35 years old, but he is more advanced than ever, in the defensive end he runs even faster than the young players, and Horford seems to score little, but it is very comprehensive, not you can let him play a player, it is because of the presence of Horford, but also let the Celtics inside become a major point for them, with this axis, but also make the Celtics more relaxed. It's been 14 years since the opening of the last championship, and we still remember the Celtics interior line Garnett said that "anything is possible", and hope that this year Horford can once again shout this slogan as the Green Army inside line.
epilogue:
"The old Ji Futuo, the ambition is in the thousands, the martyr is in his twilight years, the heart is strong", the 35-year-old Horford is more eager for the championship than anyone, the veteran who has played in the league for 15 years can be called the biggest motivation for the Green Army to win the championship, young people need the guidance of the veteran, and it is his presence that can keep the players always in mind, when the Celtics young players see the team's big brother running faster than them, the defense is more active than them, they will definitely not pour a little strength on the court, Instead, he will put all his strength into the game, which is the role of the veteran. Hopefully, the veteran will be able to fulfill his dream.