5 Doomsday scenarios that could break up current Celtics roster

Al Horford retiring

Most of the time, you would not say that a player choosing to retire instead of continuing to play would seriously alter a championship-contending team's trajectory. The players that contribute to winning most are always a variety of ages, but rarely are they guys literally a step away from hanging it up for good.

Al Horford is simply the exception. Playing in his 17th NBA season, Horford will forever have his name connected with the Boston Celtics, regardless of what this team accomplishes this year. Playing his sixth season with the franchise since 2016-17, Al has been an immense part of the Celtics becoming a perennial Eastern Conference contender once again.

He earned an All-Star and All-Defensive selection while with Boston during the 2017-18 season, finishing top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting that year as well as during the 2021-22 season. Horford was an invaluable leader to players like Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum back when they were still young guys trying to find their way in this league.

Even at 37 years old, Horford is still a very reliable defender, and he remains top seven on the team in scoring, shooting percentage, three-point percentage, and grabs the third-most rebounds per night. Al may not be the Celtics' best player, but no one would deny his impact would be missed in a big, big way if he opted to retire after the season.