5-Time All-Star’s Lack of Playing Time Motivated Former 76ers Veteran

Al Horford and the Boston Celtics are fired up about Jayson Tatum's Team USA run.

Nov 8, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr (9) controls the ball against Boston Celtics center Al Horford (42) in the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images / Kyle Ross-Imagn Images

The Boston Celtics continue to find ways to be motivated heading into the 2024-2025 NBA season. Although the Philadelphia 76ers’ rivals are entering the new year as the league’s defending champs, certain events that happened beyond the NBA Finals put a chip on the shoulder of Boston.

Earlier this week, former Sixers center Al Horford recalled the controversial lack of playing time for Jayson Tatum throughout the 2024 Paris Olympics run. As Tatum struggled to find consistent minutes on a Team USA squad not long after winning the NBA Finals, Horford finds motivation in that heading into the 2024-2025 NBA season.

"I personally was not happy about it,” Horford told ESPN this week. "Those guys, they're very special to me. And even though it was nothing against me, it motivated me and all of us for this season.”

In Boston, Tatum’s a superstar. On Team USA, he joined other markets’ stars and struggled to gain consistent playing time throughout Team USA’s gold medal journey. It doesn’t change much for Tatum, who went back to Boston with the same hardware as everybody else.

Still, a champion can’t get too comfortable.

The Celtics feel like they still have a lot to prove after a successful 2023-2024 run. Last season, Boston finished with a 64-18 record, which placed them miles ahead of the competition in the Eastern Conference. The closest team behind them was the New York Knicks, who locked up the second seed while 14 games back from Boston.

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Against the Sixers last season, the Celtics dropped the early November outing in South Philly with a three-point loss. They bounced back a few days later with a ten-point win. When the Sixers paid Boston a visit in December and February, they couldn’t overcome a red-hot Boston team. For the second season in a row, the Celtics won the regular-season series 3-1.

The rivalry will continue with its first regular season game on a primetime Christmas Day matchup. The Sixers will take on Horford, Tatum, and the rest of Boston for the first of four matchups. For Horford, he’s entering year 18 in the NBA. His second stint with the Celtics will exceed his first, as the 2024-2025 season serves as his fourth in a row with the team.