Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
Al Horford Shares His First Impressions of Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum
Al Horford and Jaylen Brown joined the Celtics in the summer of 2016. Given the franchise's trouble getting stars to sign with them, the former, then a four-time All-Star, choosing Boston, carried considerable weight.
Granted, Kevin Garnett had a great deal of influence in where he ended up when he left Minnesota, and Bill Walton wasn't voiceless when the Los Angeles Clippers traded him to the Celtics, where he helped elevate the 1986 champions into one of the greatest teams of all time.
And there were Hall of Fame players like Dominique Wilkins and Shaquille O'Neal taking their talents to Boston in the final stage of their careers.
Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports
But signing Horford, an All-Star still in his prime, was a breakthrough the Celtics never seemed close to pulling off as they struggled through the 90s and much of the 2000s before Garnett arrived.
And the summer after Horford joined the Celtics, Gordon Hayward followed. If not for gruesome ankle and tibia injuries five minutes into his Boston debut, who knows how his time in green would've played out?
Two years after Hayward reunited with Brad Stevens on the Celtics, four-Kemba Walker, coming off an All-NBA campaign, joined them, further helping to change the narrative about Boston's ability to sign marquee free agents.
It's no coincidence that fellow All-Stars followed Horford to the Celtics. From his two national championships as a Florida Gator to helping the Hawks reach the playoffs every year of his tenure in Atlanta, including a 60-win campaign in 2014-15, Horford, serving as a linchpin, has won everywhere he's gone.
Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
That includes three trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in his four years in Boston. Horford's hoping the current campaign, his fifth season with the Celtics, ends in a second-straight NBA Finals appearance and in raising banner 18 to the TD Garden rafters.
As Horford's helped this franchise evolve, he's played with Jaylen Brown for five of the two-time All-Star's seven NBA seasons, including this one. He's teamed with Jayson Tatum for four of his six campaigns.
That includes being in Boston when the two, who have grown into franchise pillars that have led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals in three of their five years together, entered the NBA.
In a conversation with J.J. Redick and Tommy Alter on The Old Man & the Three podcast, Horford shared his first impressions of Brown and Tatum.
"When Jaylen came in, just hearing him talk, just seeing kind of his vision, what he was about, it's something that really surprised me. I'm like, man, this guy is 19-20 years old, and he's already seeing things so clearly. And he knows what he wants. He knows what he's trying to accomplish. Obviously, he needs to figure it out on the court, but just as a person, just very put together, and Jayson was the same way.
"Jayson came in, and it's kind of like an old soul. From Summer League, like as soon as I saw him playing in Summer League, how poised he was, right away, I was like, man, this guy is different. And it was one of those things that I was just very, just very impressed with him, with his demeanor, how he kept his cool, and how he went about the season. He might've not felt that way, but that's the way that he came off."
Further Reading
Al Horford Discusses Jayson Tatum's Ability to Stay Locked in Even When He's Struggling
Celtics Starter Included on Injury Report Ahead of Showdown vs. Bucks
Jayson Tatum Reacts to Celtics Potentially Letting Hope for the 1 Seed Slip in Loss vs. Wizards
Here's What Stood Out in Celtics' Loss vs. Wizards: Cold Shooting Dooms Boston in Costly Defeat
