Video: Al Horford Reflects on Kyrie Irving’s Celtics Exit Before NBA Finals vs. Mavs

The Boston Celtics will be seeing a familiar face in the NBA Finals.

The Celtics’ opponent was clinched Thursday night with the Dallas Mavericks 124-103 Game 5 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves. It will be the first time the Mavericks and Celtics have faced each other in the finals, but it will be a homecoming for Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, as he will face the team he spent two seasons from 2017 to 2019 with.

Many Celtics from those teams are still with Boston, including Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown and Al Horford. During a press conference on Friday, Horford spoke about Irving and acknowledged the excellent play that Irving displayed during his time with the franchise.

“Playing with Kyrie was very special,” Horford told reporters. “He’s the type of player that just opens up a lot for everybody else. I benefited a lot from that in his time that he was here.”

Horford continued by saying that the Celtics fans would have been “lively” regardless of the opponent, but offered that Irving’s history with the franchise will surely bring out intensity from the fans.

“Our fans, they care,” Horford said. “They care a lot about the Celtics, they care a lot about Boston. When he left, it wasn’t ideal for everyone here.”

Irving averaged 24.1 points, 6.1 assists and 4.4 rebounds during his time with Boston and helped the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals and Semifinals respectively in his two seasons. He would depart for the rival Brooklyn Nets in 2019, and his reputation with the Boston fans has been less than ideal since that point.

He has flourished in Dallas, averaging 25.6 points, 5.2 assists and five rebounds in 58 games for Dallas in 2023-24. His play has continued to be sharp in the postseason and now will hope to help steer Dallas to its first NBA Championship since 2011.

Game 1 in Boston will take place June 6 at 8:30 P.M. ET.