Al Horford's sole blemish on Celtics legacy looks uglier than ever

Al Horford definitely made his mark on the Boston Celtics franchise. Not just because all he did leading up to the Celtics winning Banner 18 in 2024, but because he broke ground as the first All-Star to join Boston in free agency while in his prime.

The story got better when they brought him back, giving him the chance to prove he wasn't washed up after he originally left in 2019, and then did everything to ensure he would be fresh for the playoffs his last three years in Boston. As far as what he did for the Celtics goes, no one can complain about Horford because he gave his all, and it gave them another title.

But with the Celtics' surprising success without Jayson Tatum for all but the last two games, no one's talked about the fact that doing so makes Al Horford's departure (AGAIN) for what he thought were greener pastures look so much dumber in hindsight.

At least, not until Kevin O'Connor pointed it out.

As KOC implied, Horford left the Celtics in part because he thought the Warriors would be better than them without Tatum, which he was very wrong about. But there were more reasons than that. Reasons that Horford cryptically implied when the Celtics faced the Warriors not too long back.

However, what many forget, and this was the case the last time he left Boston, is that Horford left for Golden State because they had a richer offer. Remember when the Celtics were trying to trade Anfernee Simons shortly after acquiring him for a lower-cost contract? Those efforts were to put them in a position to give Horford the money he wanted, but clearly in vain.

This is the one blemish on his legacy: he was always willing to leave instead of toughing it out. Anyone who knows Horford's history in free agency knows that this was not an exception to the rule.

Horford has always gone where the money has taken him

Horford has joined teams because he believes he can help them win. That's very much true. He'd never go out and join the Sacramento Kings, but his history has shown that even if he joins a team that was supposed to win, he also goes to the highest bidder.

Back in 2016, he joined Boston, a monumental occurrence in franchise history, but many forget that he bolted from Atlanta in the first place because they didn't offer him the money he wanted, per Zach Lowe.

The same thing happened when he ditched the Celtics for the 76ers, where he went not just because the Sixers were likelier to win a title, but because they offered him more money, per Adrian Wojnarowski.

Horford did extend with the Celtics on a relatively team-friendly deal in 2022, which may have been a thank you for giving him the chance to compete again. However, while Boston has given him the chance to compete at a good price, he's always left when there was a chance to both compete and rake in more green.

Now, no one should fault Horford for chasing the bag because anyone else would. Nor should anyone take away from his overall impact despite those two departures. However, both times he's done this, it backfired on him, and there's no telling how much better his legacy as a Celtic would be if this had been a 10-year union since 2016.