By Sean Sylver, 98.5 The Sports Hub
Dear Al,
It’s lonely without you here in Boston. We wake up in the morning and it’s cold; the buildings are gray, the leaves are turning yellow and orange and red and the next gust of wind is ready to send us into another interminable New England winter.
Then we’ll all trudge through knee-deep snow to the Garden and you won’t be there.
People keep telling us to move on. Get a rebound guy. Remember Daniel? He’s shorter than you and sometimes a little aggressive. You’ll see him when you’re out tonight in your Sixers jersey. He’s the new you – at least for right now. Not sure it will last.
We heard our friend Steve put you on the spot about why you left. He meant well. We’re just having a hard time. You loved it here, but you didn’t think it was going to work going forward. We get it. Kyrie pretty much ruined everything.
We just wish you’d stuck around a few more days to meet Kemba.
Philly’s got a lot to offer. There was an airline commercial back in the day that said, “It’s like a baby New York.” That’s fun, I guess.
Apr 14, 2019; Boston, MA: Boston Celtics center Al Horford during the second half in game one of the first round of the 2019 NBA Playoffs against the Indiana Pacers at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports)
Kawhi really hurt them last spring. They’re probably excited to have you. The last time we saw Joel, he was crying. Remember the time he acted like a baby when we got invited to LeBron’s party and he didn’t? Maybe you can help him grow up. Maybe he can help you, too. None of us are getting any younger.
We just hope they realize how great you are.
In some ways, we didn’t deserve you. You weren’t Kevin Durant, and a few people never got over that. Others still wanted you to be somebody you’re not, as if emulating Hassan Whiteside or Andre Drummond was going to make things better.
You made things better just being yourself.
After KG and Paul left, nobody took us seriously. We hung out with Kelly and his T-Rex arms. But having you here made us cooler than Joel. Even cooler than Giannis.
We’ll always cherish the good times. Remember how much fun that first year was, with Isaiah?
When James Harden was being a Grinch and you saved Christmas?
Or that Super Bowl Sunday when the Patriots lost and we were all miserable but you did your job?
Springtime was always our favorite. We’ll never forget that time in Philly when you totally surprised us – you bullied Covington and then you stole!
But now you’re with somebody else and we can’t do anything about it, like the helpless protagonist from an Airborne Toxic Event song. Not to mention we’ve never been friends with those guys, except for a brief moment a long time ago when we shared a common enemy.
We can’t blame you for deciding to leave. It’s Kyrie’s fault. Good riddance to that guy. He’s not as smart as he thinks he is. We wish you would’ve stood up to him, but that’s not your style. We could tell you were pretty upset when things were falling apart.
You needed your space after last year. We heard about you in Dallas and New Orleans. One time we checked Twitter and Keith said you were thinking about coming back. We got so excited. It could’ve been amazing. But your mind was made up. It’s too bad.
In the past, some of our friends have been real jerks after breakups. That whole thing with Ray is still pretty embarrassing. Sometimes, we just can’t help ourselves. Don’t take it personally.
We hope you have good memories of the times we spent together. We certainly do. And we miss you.
Thanks for everything,
Your fans in Boston
Sean Sylver can be heard on 98.5 The Sports Hub. You can follow him on Twitter @TheSylverFox.