Al Horford reveals what led him to leave Celtics for Warriors

Al Horford finally made his debut with the Warriors at training camp on Wednesday after signing a widely anticipated two-year deal with Golden State earlier this week. The veteran big man spoke with the media in San Francisco for the first time since signing his new deal and shed some light on what led him to move on from Boston after a four-year tenure.

“It’s a great opportunity to compete and to win at a high level,” Horford told reporters at the Chase Center. “When I think about the Warriors, I think about Steph and Draymond and Steve Kerr and seeing Jimmy Butler here. What he did in that second half of the season last year after the trade and how they’re playing. It wasn’t an easy decision for me to leave Boston, but if there was the place, that was this one, and it happened and I happened to give this opportunity, so I jumped at it.”

Horford signed for the taxpayer midlevel exception ($5.7 million) with the Warriors in a two-year deal that includes a player option for next season. That contract is also likely higher than the Celtics offered him, something Brad Stevens signaled earlier this week when discussing his departure.

“Al, I’ve been here when I was coaching and flew down to Atlanta and was part of that group that tried to recruit Al to come here the first time,” Stevens said. “He left a couple years later, and we were fortunate enough to get him back, right? So it feels like, even though there was a small interruption there, it feels like an unbelievable eight years or somewhat of six to six years together and six or seven years together. And I just think he deserves to make whatever decision he wants. We tried. We offered both Al and Luke the opportunity to stay, but I think you can see where our contracts were with who we signed that we were going to be handcuffed around the aprons a little bit.”

At age 39, Horford is intent on competing for championships as well and the outlook for Boston changed on that front as soon as Jayson Tatum tore his Achilles back in May at Madison Square Garden. With the team resetting, Horford heads out west to play a prominent role on a potential Western Conference contender even though he had to wait until this week to officially sign as the Warriors sorted out Jonathan Kuminga’s contractual stalemate.

“It was definitely a very odd offseason, just kind of waiting and waiting and seeing what’s going to happen, seeing what’s going to take place,” Horford said. “So just my whole focus was on my training and preparing myself and making sure that I was in the best place for when the season started.”

Horford now will give Stephen Curry a valuable stretch weapon at center next season although it remains unclear still whether he will start or come off the bench with Draymond Green serving as a primary center in the starting five. Whatever choice Steve Kerr makes, he’s eager to add the veteran weapon to his arsenal.

“It’s huge to not only to have a space 5, but it’s not just any space 5 — it’s Al Horford,” Kerr said. “He rebounds, defends, smart, good passer … just watching him today, you can see the fit, how smooth it is.”