Al Horford and Robert Williams III may not have spent a whole lot of time together, but the former Celtics center-left an impression on the rookie.
Horford, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, was praised by Williams on Tuesday during Boston’s first day of training camp, calling him a “non-vocal leader.”
“He was a great leader, a non-vocal leader,” Williams said, per MassLive’s Tom Westerholm. “In some cases, you’ve got to follow people that aren’t vocal in everything they do. But off the court too, Al comes up to me all the time. … Al was a great leader.”
Even though he now plays for a rival team, Horford reached out to the 21-year-old to offer up some words of encouragement.
Horford, according to Westerholm, told Williams “he would blossom in the NBA, and that he planned to play against Williams in many more games.”
“It was kind of like a respect thing,” Williams said. “It made me feel good.”
It won’t take long for Boston and Philadelphia to meet, as the Celtics open up their 2019-20 season against the 76ers at Wells Fargo Center on Oct. 23.
