Warriors center Al Horford keeps inspiring
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Juan Beltran, Contributor
- February 16, 2026
Veteran Al Horford adjusts to life on the West Coast
Al Horford wasn’t the first Latin American to play in the NBA. He’s not even the first native of the Dominican Republic to play in the league. That honor belongs to his father, Tito, who debuted with the Milwaukee Bucks in 1988.
Tito Horford started in the NBA a decade after Santurce, Puerto Rico, native Butch Lee debuted with the Atlanta Hawks. Al Horford, however, is arguably the standard by which Latino NBA players will be measured, whether they were born in Latin America or the United States.
He has embraced his roots and spoken beautifully about his homeland and Latinos in English and Spanish. The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder from Puerto Plata, D.R., has inspired a generation of Dominicans and Dominican Americans, including Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns.
Two decades before Michigan’s Yaxel Lendeborg or USC’s Chad Baker-Mazara became two of the best players in the NCAA this season, Al Horford led Florida to the first of consecutive NCAA national titles.
The No. 3 pick in the 2007 NBA Draft is still contributing in his 19th NBA season and first with the Golden State Warriors. With the exception of one season with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Al Horford, 39, has spent most of his NBA and NCAA career either on the East Coast or the Southeast.
A new stage
He spent nine seasons with the Atlanta Hawks and seven with the Boston Celtics. In 2013 he became the first Dominican to reach the NBA Finals. A year later, he became the first native of the D.R. to win a championship ring.
Boston, which has a vibrant Dominican community, provided many comforts of home whenever Horford wanted. San Francisco has a bit of everything, but the Latinos in Northern California are mostly of Mexican descent.
Horford has embraced his Mexican brothers. Earlier this month, iconic Mexican music group Los Tigres del Norte visited with Horford and presented him with a black Cowboy felt hat, known as a Tejana.
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Horford and Los Tigres del Norte were all smiles during the visit. There may not be many places for Horford to get Dominican staples such as Chivo Guisado Picante, Mondongo or Mangú con Salami, but there is no shortage of Latin American cuisine.
“It’s totally different,” he said. “Here … I find a lot of good Mexican food and Central American food, Salvadoran spots, things like that. I’ve been kind of splurging, you know, getting some good tacos, good burritos, that type of food that we don’t get as good on the East Coast.”
Quality veteran
Equally important, Horford continues to lead. He is averaging 20.6 minutes a game over his 34 appearances, five of them starts. Horford is averaging 7.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.
Even on a veteran team, he’s a valued leader. Moreover, he’s an inspiration for youngsters in the Dominican Republic and throughout Latin America.
“Very grateful,” he says. “It’s something that’s not as common for people from our countries to be able to play in the NBA. So the first thing is that you have to be able to have that dream and then have that drive to want to work toward that.
“To me I had to play college basketball. That’s how I was able to get to the NBA. Trajectories are different, but my whole thing is just for people if you have the belief and you have a will to do it, put your heart into and it and do your best. Really work hard. It’s really hard to make it to this level, but I believe it’s possible because a few of us have been able to achieve it.”
Juan Beltran
Contributor
Juan Beltran, who immigrated to the United States from El Salvador at 5 years old, is an experienced broadcast journalist
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