Henry Roldán
Al Horford‘s career in the NBA is one of the bests in history for any player born in Latin America, and this Sunday he took another big step to establish himself in an important position with the Boston Celtics.
According to the Statmuse.com portal, when the Dominican player faces the Golden State Warriors, he will break a streak of 141 postseason games played without playing a final on Thursday, a figure that makes it the longest in the history of the circuit.
The 35-year-old Horford, who has 15 years of experience in the league, will see action for the first time in an NBA Finals after 12 unsuccessful trips to the playoffs.
His first eight postseasons were played with the Atlanta Hawks, with whom he reached the second round of the East. Then three times he went with the Celtics, staying in the Conference Final on two of them, while last year he reached the first round with the 76ers.
That is why, after qualifying this Sunday against the Miami Heat, Horford couldn’t hold back his tears and took to the court at the FTX Arena in Miami, letting off steam after a long and successful career without being able to achieve one of the main goals of any professional athlete.
In addition, he did it in a stellar plan, being one of the defensive figures of this great Celtics team and bringing out all that caste that has taken him to the All-Star Game five times and for which he has been selected to an All-Star NBA team and an All-Defensive team.
Al Horford: First Player from the Dominican Republic in an NBA Final
In addition to being able to break the streak of postseason commitments without reaching a final, Al Horford also made history by becoming the first player from the Dominican Republic to reach this stage in the best basketball in the world.
“I’m very very grateful, very very excited… We’re here in Miami, really close to (the Dominican Republic). I know my family is happy. Everybody is happy.”
Al Horford for being the first DR player in an NBA final.
In total, 33 years passed for a player from the Caribbean island to savor the sweetness of a final after, ironically, Tito Horford, his father, became the first Dominican to play in the NBA in 1989. From then on, six other Caribbeans had seen action in the league, but without achieving more success than Al Horford.
