How Al Horford Fits in Philadelphia
After three years of heated battles against the 76ers while playing for the rival Celtics, Al Horford joined Philadelphia this offseason. Many have questioned the move due to Horford and 76ers’ superstar Joel Embiid both playing the Center position. At first glance, it may look like a bad place for Horford to sign.
When taking a closer look, Horford will thrive in Philadelphia.
All Al Horford has done his whole life is win. Son of former NBA player Tito Horford, Al made an immediate impact at the college level at the University of Florida. Horford played three seasons at Florida, winning back-to-back National Championships in his Sophomore and Junior seasons. After his Junior season, Horford declared for the NBA Draft. Horford was selected with the third overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks in the 2007 draft, taken after Greg Oden and Kevin Durant.
Horford played for the Hawks from 2007 to 2016. In that time, Atlanta made the postseason every single year. Al made four All-Star games and one All-NBA Third-Team with the Hawks, and in his final year in Atlanta, the team won sixty games and made the Eastern Conference Finals.
Boston signed Horford in the summer of 2016, the Celtics made two straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances in the big man’s first two seasons as a Celtic. He made one All-Star game and made the 2018-19 All-Defensive Second team while playing in Boston.
Now the five-time All-Star will look to expand on his postseason success playing in Philadelphia.
Al Horford the Center VS. Al Horford the Power Forward
While playing for Florida in college, Horford played the Power Forward position. The Center position was occupied by future fellow All-NBA Center Joakim Noah. The Power Forward spot did not hurt Horford in the slightest. Horford put up good numbers at an extremely high rate.
Sophomore Season: 11 ppg 7 rpg 1 spg 1.7 bpg 60.8% FG in 25.9 mpg
Junior Season: 13 ppg 9.5 rpg 1.8 bpg 60.8% FG in 27.8 mpg
Al’s success at the Power Forward spot also translated to the NBA. Basketball-Reference has a stat that shows how much a player plays at a certain position. It is divided up into the five positions; Point Guard, Shooting Guard, Small Forward, Power Forward, and Center. Every player has a percentage of how much they played each position. Horford has only played Center and Power Forward his whole career. These are his stats for his whole career, including his Center percentage.
| Year | Center % | PPG | RPG | APG | BPG | FG% | MPG |
| 2008 | 92 | 10.1 | 9.7 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 49.9 | 31.4 |
| 2009 | 81 | 11.5 | 9.3 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 52.5 | 33.5 |
| 2010 | 94 | 14.2 | 9.9 | 2.3 | 1.1 | 55.1 | 35.1 |
| 2011 | 66 | 15.3 | 9.3 | 3.5 | 1 | 55.7 | 35.1 |
| 2012 | 95 | 12.4 | 7 | 2.2 | 1.3 | 55.3 | 31.6 |
| 2013 | 73 | 17.4 | 10.2 | 3.2 | 1.1 | 54.3 | 37.2 |
| 2014 | 95 | 18.6 | 8.4 | 2.6 | 1.5 | 56.7 | 33 |
| 2015 | 100 | 15.2 | 7.2 | 3.2 | 1.3 | 53.8 | 30.5 |
| 2016 | 90 | 15.2 | 7.3 | 3.2 | 1.5 | 50.5 | 32.1 |
| 2017 | 75 | 14 | 6.8 | 5 | 1.3 | 47.3 | 32.3 |
| 2018 | 57 | 12.9 | 7.4 | 4.7 | 1.1 | 48.9 | 31.6 |
| 2019 | 85 | 13.6 | 6.7 | 4.2 | 1.3 | 53.5 | 29 |
Now let’s compare his stats between when he plays Center almost always, to when he plays both Power Forward and Center.
Career Average when playing at least 80% at Center (8 seasons):
14.5 ppg 8.3 rpg 2.7 apg 1.3 bpg 53.9% FG in 32.3 mpg
Career Average when playing less than 80% at Center (4 seasons):
14.9 ppg 8.4 rpg 4.1 apg 1.1 bpg 51.6% FG in 34.1 mpg
The numbers are almost exact. If anything, Horford might be even better at Power Forward because he almost doubles his assists per game when he plays more at the four. Those stats suggest that Horford’s numbers should not decline now that he will be starting at Power Forward next to Joel Embiid at Center.
If that is not enough proof for you, Horford himself has stated in the past that he prefers playing the Power Forward position. He has always been looked at as an undersized Center and a natural Power Forward.
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Horford is an exciting addition to Philadelphia and creates arguably the best Power Forward and Center combination in the league with Embiid.
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