Al Horford’s Siblings Admit He Felt Homesick With Philadelphia 76ers

Al Horford shocked the basketball world when he packed up after a stint with the Boston Celtics and inked a multi-year deal with their Atlantic Conference

Al Horford shocked the basketball world when he packed up after a stint with the Boston Celtics and inked a multi-year deal with their Atlantic Conference rival, the Philadelphia 76ers.

As the Sixers needed to ensure they could find a reliable backup center for Joel Embiid, they landed on Horford as he was viewed as a valuable piece to become not only a starting stretch-four but a backup five as well.

We now know the Horford experiment in Philadelphia didn’t go as planned. While playing alongside Embiid in the starting lineup, Horford’s fit looked off and the veteran struggled to produce as he scored just 11 points per game while shooting 35-percent from deep.

At times, many assumed Horford missed his former team as he struggled to feel the same love in Philadelphia that he once felt while playing in Boston. Of course, the veteran big man would never admit it. However, his siblings recently admitted that was indeed the case when Horford was in Philly, according to Jared Weiss of The Athletic.

“I tell people I think we fully manifested his return to Boston because we all wanted it so badly. We kind of put that out there,” Anna [Horford] said. “Al has alluded to that, as well. He always was homesick for Boston when he was in Philly and when he was in Oklahoma. Somehow, the stars aligned, and we got back here, and it just worked out perfectly.”

Following a tough first year with the Sixers, Horford was moved in the offseason. When 76ers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey took over Philly’s front office, his first move involved trading Horford to the Oklahoma City Thunder and landing the veteran sharpshooter, Danny Green.

After appearing in just 28 games for the rebuilding Thunder, Horford took the rest of the 2020-2021 season off. Once again, he was moved in the offseason and landed back in Boston with the Celtics.

It all worked out in Horford’s favor in the end. Not only did he make it back to Boston two years after leaving in free agency, but he helped take his team to the 2022 NBA Finals, where they are looking to put away the Golden State Warriors. 

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.

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