Al Horford needed a car on his wedding night, so David Ortiz lent his Rolls-Royce
What do you do when you need a favor in the Dominican? Call Big Papi.
Boston Celtics (then-Atlanta Hawks) star Al Horford learned this lesson nearly five years ago...on the day of his wedding.
SI’s Andrew Sharp has the scoop in the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, where he writes about Horford.
Horford, who is also from the Dominican Republic, called David Ortiz in a pinch. As always, the Red Sox slugger delivered.
The Godfather Part II: Al Horford looks to carry on tradition in Boston
We'll let Sharp take it from here:
It was December 2011. The NBA lockout had just ended, but Al Horford was still in the Dominican Republic. He was getting married to Amelia Vega, a former Miss Universe whom he’d met in, of all places, Boston. And there was a problem.
“We’re down there, and I realize I’m supposed to get a limo for [my wife], to pick her up and take her to where we’re getting married,” Horford says. “And then, obviously being in the Dominican Republic, things never go how they’re supposed to. So three hours before the wedding, we find out that there’s no limo.”
It was also Christmas Eve.
“I literally freaked out,” Horford remembers. “Nothing’s open, I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Eventually he did what one does in the case of Dominican emergencies. He called David Ortiz: “I’m like, ‘Hey man, this is what’s going on. We’re getting married in a couple hours. I need a car. What am I going to do?’ ”
“Don’t worry,” Ortiz said. “I got you.”
David Ortiz to appear on regional Sports Illustrated cover
Ortiz wasn’t even on the island at this point, but it didn’t matter. He told Horford to send a friend over to Ortiz’s house to pick up his Rolls-Royce Phantom. “I’ll have it there in 30 minutes,” Ortiz said. “I just gotta get it washed.”
Horford was amazed. “He didn’t even know my guy down there,” he laughs. “I sent a friend of mine. And he picks up the Phantom, brings it over to my wife. . . . And you know, that’s a very expensive car. But [Ortiz] tells me to keep it until I leave. So we’re there for a couple more days, and we have the car the whole time. It’s just one of those things, it shows he has a really big heart.”
Be sure to read Sharp's full story on Al Horford in this week's magazine or online at SI.com.
Horford joined the Celtics from the Hawks over the summer. Ortiz concludes his final MLB season this week.
