The Sixers Had Former Celtic Al Horford Ring The Bell Before Facing Boston

There was so much player movement this summer among some of the league’s biggest stars, that it was hard to keep track of the second-tier guys who found themselves with new organizations. For our money, one of the most underrated — and potentially most impactful — moves was Al Horford joining the Sixers.

Philadelphia was already in a great position. They’d narrowly lost to the eventual champs thanks to a miracle bounce from Kawhi Leonard, and even with losing Jimmy Butler to Miami, Horford gives them an entirely new dimension on both ends of the floor that will help relieve some of the pressure from Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons and position them as one of the top contenders in the East.

In their home-opener on Wednesday night, they decided to have a little fun in their playoff rematch against the visiting Celtics, tabbing none other than former Celtic Horford to come out to center court and do the ceremonial ringing of the bell before tip-off.

Recently liberated from Boston, Horford was the perfect choice (if a little on the nose) to do the honors with a scaled-down Liberty Bell replica. Sixers-Celtics is just one of many grudge matches around the league as the NBA season kicked off in earnest on Wednesday night.