NBA Q&A: Al Horford

Courtesy of Chris Vivlamore 

Q. As one of the few returning players, what are your thoughts about next season?

A. It’s intriguing just kind of seeing what is going to happen with everything that is going on here. I’m on board with (GM) Danny (Ferry) and the plans that he has for us here moving forward. He has a better than I certainly do. I’m just going to wait and see. My job is to really get better as a player, get healthy first of all, and keep working on my game and get better

I just know there are going to be things happening. We have a lot of free agents.

Q. What would you like to have next season?

A. I just want to be successful. I’m proud of the way that we handled our season this year. We did well. As free agency gets closer and all that stuff starts happening, I’m going to be open if they want my advice on anything or if they need me to give my opinion I’ll definitely be looking to do that and try to be part of things.

Q. When you talk about getting healthy, will you do that here? What is the plan?

A. I’m thinking about probably spending time here. We have really good trainers and a strength coach and now that they are going to be able to work with me with not as much pressure of a season, I think that is going to be really big for me to spend time getting right.

Q. What has been the most difficult part of the last couple of years? There has been a lot of turnover the last two years and next year there will be a lot more.

A. It’s difficult. We were such a tight group for so many years since I’ve been here. This is what the NBA is about. With professional sports, there is always change. That is something that you need to be able to deal with. For some of the guys who have been here, Josh (Smith), Zaza (Pachulia) and myself, we’ve been really lucky that we haven’t been moved around.

Q. Do you think that this franchise, not always known for great fan support, can go out and get some of the big free agents? You have money to spend and sometimes with the money being even, you have to sell the organization and city. Do you think this franchise can do that?

A. I think under Danny Ferry and what he is trying to do, that is going to be the key for us. I feel like he really wants to do things the right way and with class, either when things are going good or bad. So I feel like guys in free agency or whatever guy wants to come over here and play is going to be able to see that and appreciate it. I think everything else is going to fall into place. I know we have great fans. It was proven. Yeah, during the regular season it wasn’t the best but during the playoffs you see the potential of what fans can be like here. At the end of the day, our fans want to see a team that goes out and plays hard, plays the right way and that is all you can really ask for.

Q. You used the word intriguing in terms of the turnover, how difficult is it to face the uncertainty of what is to come next year?

A. I’m not too worried about it. I feel like Danny has a certain vision of where he wants to go. Obviously he has to evaluate a lot of things and work things out but I have a lot of confidence in him and what the Hawks are trying to accomplish. I actually feel OK moving forward with everything to come.