Thunder Ties: Al Horford to Represent OKC Thunder Alumni in NBA Finals

Big Al will play on the big stage starting Thursday.

After 81 playoff games, three game sevens, and three days until the opening of the 2022 NBA Finals – the clock is winding down on the 2021-22 season.

For the Oklahoma City Thunder, their final contest came 50 days ago, taking a 50-point thrashing from the Los Angeles Clippers. Since, they’ve yielded big-time success, netting the No. 2 Pick in the Draft Lottery and the No. 12 Pick following the Clippers’ play-in squander.

The Thunder’s postseason checklist has already come-and-gone as the franchise checked both of their boxes in obtaining a second lottery pick and hitting a home run in the Draft Lottery envelopes. However, there’s still some stakes to be had for those with Thunder ties.

For the sixth time in eight seasons, the Golden State Warriors will represent the Western Conference in the 2022 NBA Finals. On the other side of the coin, the Boston Celtics struck gold in game seven to be the representative for the Eastern Conference.

Among this pack of contenders, one player stands above all on Bricktown’s radar – Al Horford.

Horford, age 35, is the lone Thunder alum fighting for this season’s Larry O’Brien Trophy. Following a four-year $109 million deal from the Philadelphia 76ers, Horford was expected to be the 76ers missing piece in the frontcourt. Instead, the price tag became too steep in Philly, packaging Horford, Theo Maledon, Vasilije Micic, and a 2025 first-round pick in December 2020 for Terrance Ferguson, Vincent Poirer, and Danny Green. Essentially, Sam Presti acquired the veteran as their second rehab project – succeeding Chris Paul.

Horford, who went onto play 28 games for the Thunder last season, was dealt last offseason alongside Moses Brown to the Celtics for Kemba Walker and the No. 16 Pick, Alperen Sengun.

In his second stint in Boston, Horford has played a key cog in their playoff success. As the oldest player on roster, he’s averaged 34.7 minutes per game in the playoffs.

For the Thunder fanbase, rooting on Horford seems like the easy pick. As one of Oklahoma City’s foundation members in this rebuild, he’ll be looking to snag his first title of his career. If you still hold vendettas, The Warriors’ testy history with the Thunder may add fuel to the flames.

If the Boston Celtics take home the title, Al Horford, Enes Kanter Freedom, and Dennis Schroder will join an exclusive list of Thunder alums to grace a title. Freedom and Schroder would pick up their hardware at a later date as they both parted ways with the franchise mid-season.

Since the 2011-12 season, Oklahoma City has seen nine former players earn NBA Championships with two Oklahoma City Blue alums earning a ring.


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Ben Creider
BEN CREIDER

Ben Creider has been covering the Oklahoma City Thunder since the 2020-21 season, beginning his work with an independent blog site. Along with SI Thunder, Creider also produces podcasts for The Basketball Podcast Network.