SOUND AND STEADY WITH AL HORFORD

With the beginning of the 2019-20 NBA season starting this month, we’re all excited to see what the 82 game season holds for our favorite teams. This month’s cover story features Al Horford, a 5 time NBA All-Star, who has played 12 years in the league with 12 playoff appearances. He has had a busy few months. Hailing from Puerto Plato, Dominican Republic, during the off-season, on July 10th, Philadelphia 76ers General Manager Elton Brand (who was a former teammate of Al’s when he played at the Atlanta Hawks) announced that Al Horford signed to the team and will be wearing #42.

In sharing the news that Al was joining the team, the General Manager emphasized that “He has built his reputation around hard work and a tradition of winning, which are the same qualities that have formed the foundation of the 76ers. Al’s playmaking, elite defensive talents and veteran leadership confirm why he is a crucial addition to our roster. We have gained a championship-level teammate that will not only complement our current makeup, but will help grow our young core as we strive for the highest level of success.”

This reaction to Al comes from his years as a solid player, as he is adept at playing a number of defensive positions and will pair well alongside his teammates – Joel Embiid and Tobias Harris, in an impactful front line which will create a fierce dynamic to opposition defenses. Last season he appeared in 68 games for the Boston Celtics and started in all of them. He posted 13.6 points, 6.7 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.3 blocks in 29 minutes per game. Those stats earned him being only 1 of 2 players (NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo; Milwaukee Bucks being the other) in the league to hold those averages. He also shot .535 from the field, .360 from 3-point range and has a career high of .821 from the free-throw line. His talent and focus in his 7 seasons include a field-goal percentage of .500 or better, putting him fourth in the league behind Dwight Howard (LA Lakers), Pau Gasol (Portland Trailblazers) and Lebron James (LA Lakers). Additional accolades include being chosen to the 2017-18 All-Defensive Second Team and 2010-11 All-NBA Third Team.

Looking back at his career, he has played in 786 games (782 starts) with Boston and Atlanta. His career averages are 14.1 points, 8.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 blocks in 32.8 minutes per game. This veteran has had an astounding 120 career postseason games and his teams have qualified for the playoffs in each of his 12 seasons, as far back as 2007-08. He initially came to the league when he was selected by Atlanta with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft. While playing collegiately for the Florida Gators, he assisted in leading the team to the school’s first 2 NCAA titles in 2006 and in 2007. After his 3rd and final season at Florida, he was selected to the All-SEC First Team, the NCAA All-Tournament Team and the Associated Press All-American Third Team.

During the announcement of an array of former and new members of the 76ers, Elton emphasized that, “defense is where we will hang our hat and should have one of the best defensive teams in the league.” To that end, he believes that, “Al Horford, is a proven leader, proven player every single year. I know what he brings to the table, not only starting with Joel and being able to push us much closer to our goal of winning the championship.”

This summer, as fans, analysts and potential teammates speculated on where Al would end up, many wondered what factored into his decision. “When I decided to opt out of Boston, it wasn’t an easy decision, but I did it and I felt that there was going to be a lot of options for me,” Al said.

“When June 30th came around, things escalated very quickly and there were multiple teams and a lot of strong interest and I had to make the best decision for me. When Elton called and spoke with my agent, he laid down his offer and I was very surprised that there was this strong interest for me to be here and it made the decision very easy. I’m just excited to be a part of this. The view of this city, of Philadelphia – gets me excited! I’m hyped and ready to go.”

The impact of Al’s relationship to Elton brought him to Philadelphia, seeing his commitment to being at the top of his game when they were both at Atlanta and emphasized the importance of the game and giving it all on and off the court at optimal performance levels. Al noted, “I’m just letting you know right now. I have a lot of respect for Elton. I got to watch him as a younger player to be on our time, to see how professional he was and how he took care of his body – I really respected him. To just see how he did it when he was with us.”

“I’ll tell you a story,” he continued. “We were getting ready to go to dinner one night with some of the guys and we were about to get into the elevator. When you get into a city, that’s what you do, you go out and have dinner. He was in the elevator going into his room and coming from the gym – sweating and he had just done an hour of cardio – he was drenched. So his commitment to wanting to win and do the right things inspired me back then. I think that he believed in me and he believes in this group and what we can do and when they came knocking and approached me, it felt right. That’s why I am excited to be here because I know that he wants what’s best for this city of Philadelphia and what we are trying to do.”

Al has been candid on his focus to win a championship. In addition to his relationship with Elton, he also looked at the talent on the 76ers. “I think that the opportunity to play for this type of organization for this city was something that I really had to consider and to look at and then you look at the potential of this team and the coach, Coach Brown leading the way and obviously Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris, and all the upside that we have and now we just finished assembling our group – every time I kept looking at the players that we were signing – I was like yeah we have Kyle O’Quinn and I saw that Josh came through and that James Ennis III re-signed, and that Raul Neto got here. We got a good group here and it got me even more excited. I felt that we were in a good place and I feel really good about our future.”

The mutual admiration and Elton’s desire to build an elite starting 5 and incorporating Al into the team’s recipe of their success speaks volumes on their mutual admiration. This team is built on the depth of talent as well as the character of those that are coming together. Elton summarized, “it was very important for me to get high character guys that know how to play the game and that can still step on the court and pay a lot of dividends and to be able to do a lot on the court and not just be locker room guys. This helps a lot especially for our young playing guys who are developing to see how they work. Al told the story of what he saw as a young player and watching me as an older player working out. It’s about paying it forward. They see how hard you work, your professionalism and playing it forward so that they can see what it takes in order for you to win. So that’s the benefit of having those adults in the room.”

He continued, “the opportunity to have Al back up Joel in the playoffs and then to have him in the 5 is a great opportunity for us. We had a huge hole and deficit last year and we look forward to having Al playing on the court. He can play the 4 he can play the 5 and we have many players that can play multiple positions.”

With the off season and pre-season games in the rearview mirror, the team and fans look emphatically forward towards the regular season. With much anticipation, and a long time rivalry, the first game of the season was against the Boston Celtics. Prior to the game, there was much speculation on how would it be for Al to go against his former teammates, as well as how the team played together now that they have officially started. The 76ers won their first game 107-93. To kick off his season with Boston, Al noted it was “very weird to me. It felt good to go out and to get a win. It’s kind of good that it’s finally over as there was a lot of emotion leading up to this. It was good that we came out and competed and we were able to get the first win.”

In addition to winning this game and being a part of this team, Al is also very adamant about his respect for this city that he now plays for. To see the fans excitement for this team and embracing him, he mused, “it felt great. The atmosphere was great tonight. He stated, “our fans were really great even before tip-off. Our fans were into it and engaged and by the time the National Anthem was over, it was a packed house. They carried us throughout the night. We had some runs there and it carried us through.”

With the kick-off of the first game, Al and the rest of the 76ers continued on to playing and gaining another win against the Detroit Pistons (117-111); winning again against the Atlanta Hawks (105-103) and their latest win against the Minnesota Timberwolves (117-95) – at the time of this issue release. The Timberwolves game was played back in Philadelphia. Post game, Al highlighted about his teammates that, “the thing that I keep seeing with our group is that any of us can go in there post, score, be aggressive go through there, be strong and that was an example of it tonight. There were times that I had to go in there or Joel, Tobias, Ben, as well as Josh. We really try to play with our size and impose our will in the paint.” When he reflects on his strengths and what he brings to the team, it echoes the foundation sentiments and import that Elton shared in the press conference about the focus of defense and the players that he assembled. “I believe that’s one of my strengths to be put in different parts to protect the people whether bigs or smalls, and not only me but Ben does that well. It’s tough to go through Joel in the paint, so it works to our advantage when we do these kinds of matchups.”

From game to game, Al continues to talk about the importance of optimizing skills to play cohesively as a team on the court and off the court. He values team trips where they come together to watch The Joker, team dinners and getting to know how to work with one another. He is also insistent on watching the game tape to see where they can tweak how they play as he believes that when you’re at home, you can mask some of your mistakes, but when you go on the road – these things can definitely affect the pace and play of the game.

With 12 years in the game, he knows that his teammates and the organization are looking to him as a sound and steady presence and he knows that he needs to “find the open spots – whether that’s slashing to the basket or spacing.” This is necessary in order to provide rim protection when Joel is in position for an aggressive play.

It is an honor to have him join us as this month’s cover story feature, we look forward to seeing a tremendous season for someone so skilled, devoted and spirited on and off the court.

PHOTOS COURTESY | Alex Subers and Philadalphia 76ers

IG @AlHorford

@Sixers

Read the Oct Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Sound and Steady with Al Horford in mag.

SOMETHING YOU SHOULD KNOW WITH TRACY WOLFSON

When you're enjoying your favorite sport, more than likely, it's more than just watching the game, it's about the mechanics, knowing about the team, specific players, coaching staff, its history, how you feel about it in terms of memories growing up and more. It's about the storylines and how sports is immersed in our day to day lives from the community, pop culture, social good and entertainment. We had the chance right before the start of the 100th season of the NFL, to talk with Tracy Wolfson 4 X Emmy Nominated Lead Reporter, NFL ON CBS, NCAA Basketball and Studio Host for the network. We talked about when she fell in love with sports, her journey in sports broadcasting that brought her to CBS, the importance of preparation in her field and storylines that are exciting to keep an eye out for.

ATHLEISURE MAG: What was the moment when you realized that you wanted to work in sports?

TRACY WOLFSON: I was about 7 or 8 years old. I was sitting in my room, I was a little tomboy and all I really wanted to do was watch sports. My parents had no idea how I came to wanting to do that. I had no brothers, my father wasn’t really into sports, but I became obsessed with it and I became so intrigued with every sport out there. So, that’s when I decided that I would do everything that I possibly could to be a reporter and to talk about sports for the rest of my life. I watched the NBA Inside Stuff which I’m dating myself, but back then, it was Ahmad Rashad and Willow Bay. I said, “you know what? If Willow Bay can do it, then I can do it.” That’s when I decided to do it.

AM: Wow, well we have had the opportunities to interview a number of broadcasters especially those in sports. What was your journey to get to CBS – how did that happen?

TW: Well it was a really long journey because back then, there wasn’t really a It was a long journey. Back then, there wasn't a blueprint for it and there weren’t a lot of people that you could reach out to and talk to or for anyone to give you advice. I knew I wanted be in sports so I went to the University of Michigan for the academics but also because they were surrounded by sports, so I figured that at least I would be around it. I could meet people and find a way to get into this business that way. I took some communications classes and I did a few internships and met a few people from CBS around that time. They said, “ok when you go back to school, why don’t you help us out when we come to do games? You could be a runner and get water and coffee.” And that’s what I did. I did a bunch of football games and some basketball games. I did some ice skating shows with them and I kind of got my foot in the door, but I wanted to be on camera and I didn’t have any experience and there were no classes I could take at Michigan at the time that I started out as a researcher at the time at CBS. They hired me and it was my first job out of college. I would basically get research for all the other reporters and announcers out there and I put portfolios together. I was there for about a year and I got the offer to move up to the next level as an Assistant Producer type thing. I said that I would go for it, even though I knew that I wanted to be in front of the camera, but I didn’t have a tape. So I got the interview and the guy said, “I know you love sports and you know sports, but not like the guys do.” I was like – huh? That was my first experience of being a woman in this business so, I said, “really?” It was like the best kick in the pants that I could have gotten – I was like, “I’m out of here.” He’s no longer with CBS by the way. I found a job as an agent representing broadcasters and seeing a completely different side of the business: how to put together a tape, how to sound, how your voice should sound, what you should be wearing and what news directors you are looking for. I sent a bunch of tapes around for other people. I got one girl by the name of Jenna Wolfe who is now out in this business. I got her a job from Upstate New York to Philadelphia. She was my age and she was already in the number 1 market and I said, “oh my gosh, she’s already in the number 1 market and I haven’t even gotten on the market yet – come on! What are we waiting for here?”

So I left and I still had to get in front of the camera. I got a job as a producer on News 12 Long Island producing sports. Every time a reporter went out and did his reports, he’d let me do my reports. I made a fake tape and sent it out all across the country and I got one job in Trenton, NJ. I was never live there and was there for a year and a half. They didn’t have any live sports, so I just did 5 minutes of sportscasts a day – highschool, minor league stuff and college sports. I put together a tape and sent it to some agents and different people and I got a job at MSG Network. I got a job doing Oxygen Sports at the time. I was with ESPN for a year doing college football. It was my first time being live for ESPN College Football ever doing a live game. It was pretty incredible, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was yelling into the microphone. They were like, “you don’t have to yell, that’s why you have a microphone!” So I did whatever I could. I was there for one season and then CBS had an opening for a number 2 reporter and because I had been there, I think they kind of remembered me and I had a lot of friends. It was between a few of us, but then I got the job and now I have been with CBS for 17 years.

AM: You do so much on CBS, as we enjoy seeing you report on the NFL and obviously during the Final Four – what are the different roles that you have there?

TW: I do a lot of different things and it has grown over time. I started at CBS and I covered rodeo, covered auto racing, track and field, tennis, gymnastics – you name it. Anything CBS would have, they would ask me to cover. Now, I specialize a little bit more on just the NFL. I did college football for 10 years covering the SEC. So now it’s just NFL, college basketball and the NCAA Final Four March Madness and I have a show with the most incredibly talented women on CBS Sports Network called We Need to Talk where it’s former athletes whether it’s Summer Sanders (Team USA Swimming 4 X Olympic Medalist, sports commentator, reporter), Dara Torres (Team USA Swimming 12 X Olympic Medalist), Swin Cash (retired WNBA athlete and VP of Basketball Operations and Team Development for the New Orleans Pelicans), Lisa Leslie (retired WNBA athlete, studio analyst for the Orlando Magic broadcasts on Fox Sports Florida and Head Coach for Triplets in the BIG3), Laila Ali (retired undefeated professional boxer and TV host), Amy Trask (former CEO of the Oakland Raiders) and so many other women with different perspectives on sports. We just don’t talk about women’s sports. More often than not, we’re talking about the NFL, but it’s a really good show and it’s something different then my normal reporting. There’s a lot of hosting involved and also just a talk show giving our opinions and our viewpoints. A lot of times our view is different than a man’s.

AM: What we love so much about how you approach it is the fact that you have a storytelling aspect and just getting everyone into it. How do you prepare for your NFL coverage and how does that work with you?

TW: It really stems from my research background. I love it and that’s what you need to do to find the stories. It’s kind of like Groundhog’s Day. You come home on Sunday or Monday, you unpack that wheelie bag, you repack that wheelie bag, and then you get focused on the game at hand. A lot of time, I start back to my previous game. So I know that I have my 2 games and I start studying to find something that's different. I start reading all the beat reporters because they’re there 24 hours a day with those teams. I switch teams every week. So I really read everything that I can find whether it’s on the Internet or what they send us from the teams. I make calls and dig deeper and we’ll have meetings with each of the teams and their star players – the quarterbacks, coordinators, coaches, defensive players and really find out more information. You know the X’s and O’s – you have to know that because your questions are going to come from that and your story lines are going to come from that. But you can also weave in different stories at the same time and I think that that is really the balance between being a good reporter and having the best broadcast – how do you weave those stories in and then what can you find from the field? A lot of the stuff, you can’t prepare for. You’re the eyes and the ears on the field. You’re getting things that the men and the women in the booth can’t get. So, I just run the field over and over again looking, searching and listening whether it’s an injury or something that the offensive line coach may say or maybe it’s the way that a quarterback reacts after throwing an interception. You try and bring that to light and bring it to the broadcast and make the viewer at home feel like they are right in the game.

AM: How do you take time for yourself as you’re all over the place with your travels. How do you manage it all by having a family as well as your schedule?

TW: The juggling is really difficult and I tell anyone that wants to get into this business and have their family as well as working on sports and being on the road or anyone that is doing a business and juggling their families, you really do come last. You really have to do that as for me, my number 1 job is actually being a mother. I always say that and I will continue to do this until it doesn’t work for them. If it doesn’t work for them, then I am out! It does work for them because I am able to juggle and I have the experience and I have figured out what’s worked. I know what’s right and how to balance that time.

I make sure that I set my routines for my kids. I get them to bed on time, they get a good night’s sleep and they can get up in the morning feeling refreshed. It makes my job much easier and then they go off to school and that’s when I focus on my work. And then when they come back home, we get back into that routine and once I get their bedtime routine going and getting them into bed, I know that they’re getting their rest and I can focus on myself again and do more work. Then I get myself into a really good routine and I think that that’s the way of really finding time for yourself. If you feel good, if you’re refreshed, if you’re energized, you know that you’re in a good spot and place, then that’s ok. That’s where I really need to be because you’re being spread so thin everyday of our lives.

AM: How essential is it for people to have great sleep and what should we do around that so that we can get it?

TW: I see it from the top watching athletes. They need to get good sleep, they talk about it all the time in order to have peak performance levels out on the field or on the court. Then it starts with me, I need to be at my top game every single day and every time I’m out there. Not only working as a sideline reporter, but waking up early and being on the field for 7-8 hours. But also as a mother being on my peak. I need to be at the top of my game and being refreshed and ready for them. So I try to pass on those routines to them and I truly believe that sleep, especially going into the school year, is so important to set those routines. Being a partner with Sleep Number, I’ve learned and always have been a huge proponent of this by setting up a routine early, getting that consistent schedule down, limiting the light, taking away those phones, Playstations, devices so that they have the time to relax. Understanding that sleep is coming and being consistent with that. An hour before bedtime, I have an 8 year old, a 10 year old and a 13 year old – so all my kids are boys and they’re all hyper with a lot of energy and it’s important to have them wind down.

But the schedules are all different. The 8 year old needs something different than the 13 year old. The schedules stay the same in terms of having them calm down, taking away devices an hour prior to bedtime, they get their reading done in bed and I come in with them and sit down to go over some things with them. Maybe I read with them, they love that and look forward to that and then I turn the light off and I move onto the next kid with my 10 year old who enjoys the same routine. Then the 13 year old, well teens are difficult, they have a lot of stuff. They have sports, a lot of school work, their after school activities and they have their friends and they want to be social. I have to be able to balance that out with him as well and set a good schedule with him. I have to remind him that sleep is crucial in terms of lowering that stress level, making him have that best performance that he can in the classroom and on the field. I talk to him over and over about it and then I show him that I do it and that it’s time for my bed too. I need a schedule also and hopefully I set a good example also for them.

AM: As someone who does travel so much, what are 3 things that are must have in your carryon?

TW: Ok well, I definitely bring sneakers with me. I don’t wear sneakers on the field because I’m only 5’2” and everyone that I interview is a lot taller than me. I actually need the height, but I bring the sneakers with me because I feel that exercise is so important and it gives me a chance to just calm down and to relieve all the stress that’s around me. It allows me to have some alone time which is really important. I definitely bring a little tinted moisturizer that will maybe cover up a little of the bags under my eyes or the imperfections that we all have because that HD screen shows everything! Then, I bring a really good book because a book is really important to set that sleep routine up for me. I want to turn my TV off, I want to limit that light, I want to have that same schedule that I have at home, on the road. That way, I can be ready for that game in the morning. I bring a book, it may not be a lot and I may not have time to read a lot, but I want to be able to put my work away and just focus on relaxing, spending that last hour to chill out and to just have that me time and knowing that I will be refreshed and ready for the morning.

AM: What are you excited for this season?

TW: I’m really excited. We have tremendous match ups and so many exciting things going on at the NFL right now! I’ve been talking about the Cleveland Browns which really excite me with all of their personalities, faces, and the excitement in Cleveland to potentially have a winning team! All the noise – can they handle the pressure, as we kick off the season with that game against the Tennessee Titans. They have questions of their own like who’s going to start as quarterback it’s Marcus Mariota’s team but Ryan Tannehill right in the back? Then you have the Oakland Raiders and Antonio Brown with helmet gate. You also have Jon Gruden and can they get back to their winning ways? Then there’s Le’Veon Bell switching teams and how are the New York Jets going to do? Can they take over and make that next step? Are the New England Patriots going to be back on top again? How is Tom Brady going to perform now at age 42? It’s incredible!

Then you have the Chicago Bears, a team that really made a run at the end of the year. Can Mitchell Trubisky take that next step? I think that their defense is going to be very strong and can they take that North? We can go down that line, but that’s what’s exciting about this season as there are so many storylines and hey, we just found out about the Indianapolis Colts’ Andrew Luck.

AM: YES! We couldn’t believe he retired!

TW: I can’t tell you. I was sitting at home with my kids. We were watching a college football game and when I found the news, my heart kind of sunk. It was so upsetting.

AM: We were preparing questions for this interview and when we heard, we literally went to Twitter on your feed.

TW: I didn’t even know how to react. I got up the next morning and I was still really upset. I have had a lot of time to be around him and he’s such a good person, so smart, he knows the game, comes from a great family, I know his father well and to see the toll that it took to get to this point. You feel for him because of what he’s been going through, you can just imagine over the last few years and it’s so sad that it had to come to that. He’ll be fine and he’s in a good spot because he is so smart and he will have a lot of good opportunities ahead of him.

AM: It definitely tugged at our heart. But it’s a reminder that selfcare is so important and you really have to take care of yourself.

TW: I think that the game is trying to get better too and trying to prevent a lot of those hits and the physical side to it. They’re changing these rules in trying to do that so that players don’t have to go through that as much. It wasn’t necessarily hits to the head, but your body just breaks down after awhile. It was really devastating and that’s yet another storyline with Indianapolis and I know you will be following that!

IG @TracyWolfson

You can hear Tracy Wolfson next month on our show, BUNGALOW SK which is a part of Athleisure Studio, our multi-media podcast network! Make sure to subscribe to find out when the episode drops. You can hear it on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Google Podcasts and wherever you enjoy listening to your favorite podcast.

Read the Sept Issue of Athleisure Mag and see Something You Should Know with Tracy Wolfson in mag.