Center Dismisses Celtics' Tampering Claims After Signing $109 Million Deal

The Boston Celtics lost Al Horford this summer after the center decided not to re-sign with the Boston franchise and instead join Eastern Conference rivals Philadelphia 76ers on a three-year deal worth $109 million of which $97 million is guaranteed. It came as a surprise to his former employees, who were keen to negotiate a deal and retain Horford.

The C’s were unaware of the level of interest in the player and were unclear about the offers on the table and thus, the sudden decision by the player to leave the franchise and sign with the Sixers caught them off guard. ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported that the Celtics immediately claimed it was tampering.

“The Celtics were, from what I am told, one of the teams that kind of stomped their feet with what they thought was tampering,” Windhorst said during his appearance on “The Hoop Collective”. “Not with Kyrie, with Horford. What happened with Horford, from what I am told, really upset the Celtics. They were thinking they were going to be able to negotiate with him, talk to him about a new contract and all of a sudden it was like, he already knew what his market was and what was out there.”

There were also reports that suggested Horford’s reason for rejecting a chance to re-sign with Celtics was because they refused to meet his demands for a $100 million-plus contract. The player has now addressed the tampering claims saying “it’s pretty ridiculous” while also stating that leaving the Celtics was not an easy decision to make.

“It was a very difficult decision. You know looking at everything that had gone on with the season and my time with Boston, it wasn’t a decision taken lightly by me,” Horford said speaking on the Dan Patrick Show. “We thought that things were gonna work out its own way with Boston and it didn’t and you know I had to start looking at the next step but it was not easy.”

"What can I say? It’s pretty ridiculous, but it is what it is. I love Danny. He was always really good to me, and I know that he’s definitely frustrated that things didn’t work out with us,” Horford added when asked about the tampering claims made by Celtics general manager Danny Ainge.