Celtics Owner Reveals Al Horford Is Returning to Team, Not Retiring

Kristen Wong | Jun 18, 2024

Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports

Fresh off his first NBA championship win, Boston Celtics’ Al Horford is running it back for at least one more season.

After the confetti fell during Boston’s championship celebrations at TD Garden on Monday night, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck gave the fanbase something extra to cheer about when he confirmed Horford would be returning to the team for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.

“Al is coming back for next year,” Grousbeck said on The Greg Hill Show on Tuesday. “That’s what I’ve been told. Age 38, which is unbelievable.

“Ironically, we won in ’08 over Al’s team,” Grousbeck continued. “The [Atlanta] Hawks took us to seven in the first round. So, we were part of his drought, and now he came home to us. He loves it here. He and his family love it here. He couldn’t be happier. We are also happy.”

Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck confirms that Al Horford will be returning to the Celtics next season! pic.twitter.com/WfTSwxH9bS

— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) June 18, 2024

The 38-year-old Horford won his first ring in Game 5’s 106-88 title-clinching victory over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, ending the league’s longest active streak of career playoff games without a championship (186). James Harden is now the active record-holder with 166 games, while Karl Malone is the all-time record holder with 193 games.

Horford, a five-time All-Star, is set to make $9.5 million next season, which will be his 18th in the league. 

Horford took a backseat to Celtics offseason acquisition Kristaps Porzingis during the 2023-24 regular season but stepped up in the playoffs, averaging 9.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.1 assists this postseason. He started in 15-of-19 playoff games after Porzingis missed time due to various injuries. 

As one of the Celtics’ most reliable playoff veterans, Horford is also the all-time leader in Finals’ three-point shooting percentage, per StatMuse.

“My whole thing has always been this: as long as I feel good physically,” Horford said of his retirement plans in February. “I don’t want to feel limited. I don’t want to be not myself out there. So, I don’t want to put a limit on it. And that’s the one thing that I saw from Tom [Brady], one of the things I took from him that I thought was great. Just listening to interviews with him and things like that, he never put a limit on when he was going to play, and I don’t want to limit myself with that.”