The Al Horford Phenomenon

The Al Horford Phenomenon is something that we have noticed over the course of the All-Star center’s career. Almost every time he is brought up, someone is claiming that he is either underrated or overrated and then calling him trash or a superstar. On this episode, we delve into why both those opinions are wrong. More importantly, we try to figure out why it is happening and what effect the phenomenon has had on Horford’s career. Subscribe to our substack: ballthroughtheages.substack.com.

Show Outline

* What is the Al Horford phenomenon

* What is Horford’s true value

* Vital Stats

* One-Sentence Description

* Can he be the 3rd best player on a championship team?

* Player Comparisons

* The history of the Phenomenon

* Took shape early in Atlanta and was solidified in 2012-13

* Takes off in 2014-15 with Hawks winning 60 games

* Then, it becomes a thing. You can only talk about Al Horford by talking about whether people underrate or overrate him.

* Why has this happened?

* Great guy

* Excels at the little things

* Casuals vs Smarts

* Perhaps he’s in the wrong era

* Other examples

* Mike Conley

* Rudy Gobert

Stuff that didn’t make it

* Horford somewhat struggles against Tristen Thompson, especially in the playoffs. Here are their head-to-head stats:

* Thompson leads the series 26-15 with TT’s 16-4 playoff record. Thanks, Lebron!

* Horford has out-rebounded Thompson twice in 20 playoff meetings.

* He has had some of his worst games against Thompson including putting up 2 points and 4 rebounds as the Cavs swept the Hawks in 2015.

* He’s Dominican and speaks Spanish. I’m extra mad we didn’t bring this up cause it may have been our only opportunity to use my favorite song from Scrubs as a soundbite.

* Horford has the softest eyes ever. I’m serious:

Sources

* Ben Golliver, Sports Illustrated: The All-Ignored Team

* Adam Fromal, B/R: Meet Al Horford, the NBA's Hidden Superstar

* Zach Lowe, Grantland: The Unassuming, Unknown Superstar Status of Al Horford

* Tommy Heinsohn says Horford isn’t great

* Chris Mannix, Yahoo: Celtics' Al Horford making underrated excellence his calling card

* No guy on r/celtics you are not the only one who thinks Horford is overrated

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