Al Horford

Early years and high school career

Horford was born in the city of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. Although the Dominican Republic is more famous for producing baseball players, both Horford and his father, Tito Horford, were recruited for basketball. Tito, whose father was a Bahamian immigrant, was recruited by Marian Christian High School in Houston and attended Louisiana State and Miami before being drafted in the second round of the 1988 NBA draft. He played three years in the NBA and several more overseas. Horford's mother, Arelis Reynoso, was a journalist.

Horford grew up watching his father play and fell in love with the game. In the summer of 2000, Horford and his family moved to Lansing, Michigan, where he attended Grand Ledge High School in Grand Ledge, Michigan, and was a star on its basketball team. Horford holds seven school records, including most career points, 1,239. As a senior he was Class A Player of The Year, averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds, and 5 blocks per game. While at Grand Ledge, Horford played AAU basketball for the Michigan Mustangs, who were runner-ups in the Adidas Big Time National Tournament.

Considered a four-star recruit by Rivals.com, Horford was listed as the No. 7 power forward and the No. 36 player in the nation in 2004.

College career

Horford accepted an athletic scholarship to attend Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators men's basketball team from 2004 to 2007. He was a member of the Gators' 2004 recruiting class, together with fellow incoming freshmen Joakim Noah, Taurean Green and Corey Brewer. He made an immediate impact as a Gator, starting at center in the front-court with David Lee, and helped the Gators win the 2005 Southeastern Conference Tournament championship.

He started his sophomore season without many expectations. Consensus saw the team taking a step back in the 2005–06 season, after they had lost three starters from the previous year's conference champions. In both the AP and USA Today pre-season polls, Florida was projected out of the top 25.

The Gators, surged through the season, winning the SEC Championship, largely due to vast improvements from Horford and Joakim Noah. They entered the 2006 NCAA Tournament as a number 3 seed. The Gators swept through the first four rounds to reach the Final Four. The Gators beat the Cinderella story of the tournament, George Mason, to reach the final. Then they beat UCLA in the championship, where Horford had 14 points and 7 rebounds.

Horford and the Gators started the 2006–07 season hoping to repeat as national champions. In December 2006, Horford missed a series of games due to an injury. Coach Donovan held him out of a game against Stetson in hopes that he would be adequately healed for a December 23 showdown in Gainesville against the third-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes. One day before the game, Donovan announced that Horford would be unable to play. However, Horford entered the game from the bench to guard Ohio State player Greg Oden, a highly touted 7'0" (2.13 m) freshman. Horford held him to just seven points (well below Oden's season average of just over 15). Horford scored eleven points and added eleven rebounds in limited action. The Gators beat the Buckeyes in an instant classic.

On the final home game of the season, on March 4, 2007 against Kentucky, Horford became the fourth on his team to score 1,000 career points, on a free throw in the second half. He needed 14 points during the game to reach the milestone, and scored exactly 14.

On April 2, 2007, Horford and the rest of the Gators became the first team to repeat as national champions since the 1991–1992 Duke Blue Devils, and the first ever to do so with the same starting lineup. Then in May 2007, Horford, Taurean Green, Joakim Noah, and Corey Brewer all announced they would leave early for the NBA.

According to an interview on Rome is Burning with Jim Rome on March 18, 2009, Horford said that he finished his degree at Florida in the summer after his rookie year in the NBA.

Atlanta Hawks (2007–present)

Horford was projected by pundits as a top-5 pick in the draft. On June 28, 2007, he was selected 3rd overall by Atlanta Hawks in the draft behind Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. Horford was projected as an opening day starter due to his combination of skills – he could shoot, pass, rebound and defend multiple positions. Horford signed a four-year, $17.53 million rookie-scale contract with the Atlanta Hawks on July 9, 2007.

He played a large role for the Hawks in his rookie year, starting 77 out of 82 games and averaging 10.1 points, and 9.7 rebounds. During the 2007–2008, Horford was honored as Rookie of the Month on four separate occasions: November, February, March and April. Horford was a unanimous selection to the All-Rookie first team. He helped the Hawks gain the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hawks played the #1 seed Boston Celtics, taking them to 7 games. In the series Horford averaged 12.6 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists.

Horford looked to improve on his rookie season his sophomore year. On February 16, 2008, Horford played in the NBA All-Star Rookie Challenge. He had 19 points and 7 rebounds in helping the sophomores defeat the rookies. Horford improved in his sophomore year, averaging 11.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.4 blocks. The Hawks also improved, becoming the 4th seed in the Eastern Conference, and beat the Miami Heat in 7 games in the first round of the playoffs before being swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the next round. Coming into his third season the Hawks added shooting guard Jamal Crawford to improve the team. Horford posted his strongest year yet, averaging 14.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 1.1 blocks, and 2.4 assists. Horford was named to the Eastern Conference All-Star Team, and in the All-Star Game he put up 8 points and 4 rebounds. The Hawks once again qualified for the playoffs, this time as the 3rd seed. The Hawks were again swept in the second round, this time by Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Horford improved once again in his fourth NBA season, averaging 15.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.0 blocks. Horford was selected to the All-Star game as a reserve, and was also selected to the All-NBA Third Team.

On November 2, 2010, Horford signed a five-year, $60 million rookie-scale extension with the Hawks.

On January 11, 2012, Horford sustained an injury to his left shoulder that appeared to be mild. However, results later showed that he had torn his pectoral muscle. He missed the rest of the regular season, not returning to game action until Game 4 of Atlanta's first-round playoff series against the Boston Celtics.

On December 26, 2013, Horford suffered a similar injury, a complete tear of his right pectoral muscle. He later had season-ending surgery.

On January 13, 2015, Horford recorded his first career triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 105–87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers. On January 29, Horford earned his third All-Star nod as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2015 NBA All-Star Game.

On November 11, 2015, Horford scored 26 points and made a career-high four three-pointers in a 106–98 win over the New Orleans Pelicans. On December 4, he scored 16 points against the Los Angeles Lakers to extend his streak of double-digit games to 22, setting a career-high. His streak came to an end at 23 after scoring 9 points against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Hawks' 24th game of the season on December 10. On January 9, 2016, he had a season-best game with 33 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 blocks in a 120–105 win over the Chicago Bulls.

Personal life

Horford was selected to be on the packaging of the video game NBA Ballers: Chosen One with fellow center of the Orlando Magic Dwight Howard.

Horford has a younger brother named Jon Horford who also attended the University of Florida and played on the men's basketball team. He also has two sisters, Anna and Maria Horford, and a younger brother, Josh, who played for Grand Ledge as of 2015.

Horford's father Tito Horford was an NBA player for the Bucks and Bullets. Horford's uncle Kelly Horford played for Florida Atlantic in the 90s. Horford is a member of the Nike basketball brand.

Horford, having grown up in the Dominican Republic until he was a teenager, is bilingual in English and Spanish and wrote a blog in Spanish for NBA.com for a brief period of time.

On December 24, 2011, Horford married former Miss Universe Amelia Vega, after two years of dating. On February 23, 2015, he and his wife welcomed the birth of their first child, a son named Ean Horford Vega.