Former Boston Celtics center Al Horford has hit yet another speed bump to start his Golden State Warriors tenure. According to the Warriors, Horford is expected to miss at least three games with “sciatica nerve irritation.”
For perspective, Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James battled a similar injury heading into this year, and he just recently made his season debut against the Utah Jazz. This is something that could keep Horford out for a while.
The three matchups he’s expected to miss include Monday’s game against the Jazz, Wednesday’s meeting with the Houston Rockets, then Saturday’s game vs. the New Orleans Pelicans.
Aside from the Rockets game, that’s not a bad stretch to miss for Horford, who’s already racked up five absences this season due to a combination of rest days and a lingering foot issue.
Even when he’s been on the court, the 39-year-old hasn’t quite looked like himself wearing the Golden State uniform -- on multiple levels. Of course, it’s strange seeing him in anything other than Celtics green at this point, but Horford’s play has undeniably taken a step back thus far.
Through 12 appearances as a Warrior, he’s averaged just 5.8 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game on a career-low 34.2% from the field. Horford’s three-point shooting has dipped, too. He’s made just 32% of his long-range attempts, his worst rate since the 2014-15 season, when he shot just 30.6%.
Horford’s production waning along with his durability has to be disappointing for the Warriors, who hoped that he’d be a difference-maker for them after their strong second half of the 2024-25 campaign.
The Warriors haven't given Horford the opportunity he expected when he left Boston
Not only has Horford underachieved, but the team as a whole has, too. Through 18 games, they’re sitting right at .500, which slots them at eighth in the Western Conference.
Ironically, they’re a half-game worse than Boston now, a squad that the big man didn’t feel would give him the same opportunity to compete as Golden State would.
“I think that where Boston was as a team, even though I called them my home and everything was there for me, they just weren’t in a position to offer me the opportunity that I wanted,” Horford told The Athletic’s Nick Friedell last month.
It made sense at the time. Jayson Tatum is going to miss a significant chunk of the season recovering from a torn Achilles tendon, while Boston lost key players like Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis in salary-shedding trades.
“There was two things there,” Horford continued. “I think the financial part was a component, but more than that, it was the winning part of it, trying to contend for a championship. And I think there was a lot of things up in the air — and it just felt like they weren’t in the same, that same vision, obviously, because JT getting hurt, that takes a big toll. So I think at that point I really had to — up until then I was staying in Boston the whole time.”
Though many Celtics fans might be upset with Horford for leaving, his meaning to the franchise can’t be ignored. He appeared in 465 regular-season games and 119 playoff games across his two stints in Boston. Horford served as a tremendous role model and mentor to Tatum and Jaylen Brown when they were in their first few NBA seasons, and his contributions shouldn’t be taken for granted.