Al Horford Was Once Bashed by Local Boston Media for Missing a Game After Birth of His Child

Boston Celtics star Al-Horford is having one hell of a postseason run. He and the Celtics took down mammoth opponents and Horford has been spectacular. He even continued that streak with an impressive performance in game 1 of the Finals and the fans loved it. But there was a time when he was criticized for missing a game for the birth of his child.

Back in 2015, Horford had just arrived in Boston. And he never had that kind of a spotlight in his career. The Boston media is brutal on its stars and they don’t take too kindly to bad performances.

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On the other hand, if you put in good performances, you are glorified as a hero. But what the Boston media did to Horford, many felt, was unacceptable.

Al Horford was called lazy after he missed a game

Horford is married to Amelia Vega, who is a former Miss Universe, and she gave birth to their first child in 2015. But Horford, who was in Atlanta, had to miss a Celtics game to be with his family. And that didn’t go down too well with the Boston Media. Especially to Michael Felger, who created a notion that Horford was lazy and didn’t want to work.

Felger said, “He had the birth of his kid in Atlanta. The game was in Miami. I know when you make $30 million a year, it ain’t much to get a private jet. Wyc would probably pick it up to fly down at 3 o’clock in Atlanta. It’s about a 90-minute flight to Atlanta. Play the game and come right back.”

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“I would have gone to the game, I would have played in the game. I like my guys to sort of forsake everything for the team.”

Felger was right in some points that players need to give everything for the team. But if you ask any player, family comes first for a majority of them. None of the Celtics teammates came out and criticized Horford for missing a game. Everyone knew that he had to be there for his family and no one held him accountable. Even the great players have missed a game for family reasons. And no one held them accountable.