It wasn’t easy for Al Horford to leave Atlanta.
This according to Kyle Korver, his Hawks teammate and one of several sounding boards Horford called on throughout the process of free agency. The two had several phone conversations before Horford agreed to a contract with the Celtics last weekend.
“It was really hard for him to leave,” Korver told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Tuesday. “It was. He had a lot of life set up in Atlanta. He’d been there a long time. His family was all there. He’s got tons of great relationships in the community and in the organization. It was a tough decision for him. I don’t know if I ever thought he was leaving or not. I just knew he was looking at all his options. I encouraged him to look at all his options. I was like ‘Dude, this is your first time being a free agent. Obviously you know that I want you back and we all want you back. But look and see what’s there.’ I think that is the right thing to do. You want to feel good about coming back if that is your decision. Obviously we really wanted him to come back. He made his decision.”
Korver said Horford put a lot of thought into his decision. He wrestled with leaving the Hawks after nine successful seasons. Kent Bazemore recently said he talked to Horford during the process as well.
Korver admitted it will be strange to see Horford wearing the jersey of a different team after they spent the past four seasons together.
“I think we are all a little surprised,” Korver said of Horford agreeing to a four-year, $113 million deal with the Celtics. “I think we were all hoping that it was going to work out, that he would come back. Al has been a cornerstone of the franchise for a lot of years. He’s been an amazing player and an amazing teammate and a great leader. We are going to miss him. But it’s a business. It’s his decision. We wish him the best. Grateful for all the memories and games and accomplishments that we had with him.”
