Al Horford dismisses retirement rumors after winning title with Boston Celtics: "I'm coming back"
BOSTON - Al Horford made it clear Sunday he's not riding off into the sunset after finally winning a championship with the Boston Celtics, 17 years into his NBA career.
The 38-year-old Horford confirmed what Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck said a few days ago - he's not ready for retirement just yet.
"I don't know how that all got started to be honest," Horford told WBZ-TV's Dan Roche Sunday at Dick's House of Sport. "I'm coming back, that's the plan."
Al Horford made an appearance Sunday @DICKS House of Sport Boston
— Dan Roche (@RochieWBZ) June 23, 2024
Asked him if he was indeed coming back for the 2024-25 @celtics season? And @JaredWeissNBA asked him about how long he wants to keep on playing...#DifferentHere @wbz #NBA pic.twitter.com/VYyuUcttET
"I feel good," Al Horford says
Horford was also asked if he knows how long he wants to keep playing in the NBA.
"Not really. I feel good, I want to keep it going and I know that I have to be cautious with how I approach the season and how I go throughout the season," he said. "But I feel like we did a really good job, our Celtics medical group did a really good job managing me this season."
He also reflected on the big turnout of Celtics fans at the duck boat parade on Friday.
"I didn't know what to expect, but I didn't realize that it was going to be that long of a trajectory, the duck parade," Horford said. "It was just very overwhelming, I just loved every minute of it"
Horford is signed with the Celtics through the next season with a $9.5 million salary. He came off the bench this past season to back up Kristaps Porzingis, but still started 33 games and had to step up even more during the playoffs when Porzingis went down with injury.