Al Horford’s Sister Sounds Off After Blake Griffin’s Comment About Her Brother

Getty Blake Griffin of the Boston Celtics.

The Boston Celtics are in a phenomenal spot at this point in the season. After an up-and-down stretch from the middle of December to the middle of January, they’ve bounced back in a big way and have won seven games in a row.

Amid their recent successes, Amanda Pflugrad of the Celtics caught up with Blake Griffin at practice and asked him some rapid-fire questions. One of them was about which Celtics player he would swap lives with for 24 hours if he had the chance. His answer? Al Horford. And Horford’s sister, Anna Horford, wanted some more details as to why.

“I need more on why he’d trade places with Al…,” Horford’s sister tweeted.

I need more on why he’d trade places with Al… https://t.co/LqzdUgGGLX

— Anna Horford (@AnnaHorford) January 17, 2023

She doubled down on her statement in the replies to her own tweet, stating that “if you want to come to family game night, just say that.”

When asked the question, Griffin struggled to come up with an answer, looking all around the practice gym, presumably scoping out his fellow Celtics players. Horford, who, by Pflugrad’s account, was practicing on the court behind him, was the best answer he could come up with. That being said, Griffin was very up-in-the-air about his response.

As far as their performances on the court this season, Griffin hasn’t played a huge role in Boston’s rotation since a long stretch in December when he was filling in for Horford in the starting lineup.

Meanwhile, Horford is an integral part of the Celtics’ starting five. The big man, who has been sitting out on the second night of back-to-backs this year, has appeared in 35 of the team’s 45 games this season and is playing 30.5 minutes per contest. He’s averaging 9.5 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game on 48.8% shooting from the field and 44.2% shooting from behind the three-point line.

Celtics Need to Consider Robert Williams Insurance

While Horford has been an important part of Boston’s frontcourt, so has Robert Williams. Unfortunately, both are prone to missing games. And according to Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe, the Celtics need to consider the potential need for Williams insurance ahead of the February 9 trade deadline.

“President of basketball operations Brad Stevens has about 25 days to determine whether the Celtics need reinforcements before the stretch run,” Washburn wrote. “The trade deadline is Feb. 9, but depth doesn’t seem to be an issue with Williams back in the fold and playing consistently.”

Rob Williams must’ve been exhausted after this offensive sequence, he was the most active on the #Celtics and wasn’t going to allow his team to run back up the court without scoring. He grabbed rebounds, knocked around bodies down low. Rob is back! pic.twitter.com/adlKSYtKjG

— The Celtics Files (@CelticsFiles) January 15, 2023

Celtics Predicted to Not Make Any Trades

That being said, there is a belief that Boston will avoid getting involved in any trades by the deadline. According to Keith Smith of CelticsBlog, they are far more likely to engage in talks on the buyout market rather than make any trades.

“Various sources told CelticsBlog that they expect Boston to be a top destination on the buyout market,” Smith wrote. “One source said, ‘They don’t need to make a trade. Why bother? They don’t need anything. Brad [Stevens] already gave Joe [everything he needs]. And that Gallo [Danilo Gallinari] exception [Disabled Player Exception] will allow them to outspend everyone else for a buyout guy. They can let the deadline pass and then just pick off the best free agent or two for playoff depth. And vets will all want the Celtics because they can get paid and they can win.’”