During the Boston Celtics’ 131-91 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies on February 4, Marcus Smart—who made his first trip back to the TD Garden since his June 2023 trade away from the team—was credited by the big man for being the reason Al Horford signed with the team during the summer of 2016. Horford also called out Isaiah Thomas specifically.

It was good to see him,” Horford said of Smart (h/t MassLive). Good to see him today. My time with Marcus here was very special, and I said this before, but one of the reasons why I came here initially in ‘16 was Isaiah Thomas and Marcus Smart. I had a lot of respect for Smart even when he was a really young player, and how he cared about winning. Just a very special person and somebody that I really appreciated when he was here with us throughout the years, so just seeing him tonight was nice. It was nice to catch up with him to see him, he’s doing well and trying to recover from his injury. It was good to see him.”