SAN FRANCISCO – Growing up in the Dominican Republic, Al Horford did not have to look far to find an example of local basketball excellence at the highest level.
His father, Tito, was the country’s first-ever NBA player and spent parts of three seasons with the Bucks and Bullets in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
But Horford was only a young child by the time his dad finished his NBA career. So he naturally gravitated toward a young high-flyer from Santo Domingo who captivated the rest of the island.
“A person that did that for me was Luis Felipe Lopez,” Horford told the Bay Area News Group this week. “Growing up in the DR at my time, he was kind of like our Michael Jordan.”
The acrobatic Lopez may have stylistically reassembled His Airiness, but when it comes to impact as an NBA stalwart, it is Horford who has an ironclad case as the greatest Dominican-born player.
Horford is a five-time All-Star, has made an All-NBA team and was an integral part of the Celtics’ 2024 championship run. Horford was later awarded the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez, and Mella in the degree of Knight, the country’s highest honor, after winning the title.
He has scored over 15,000 points and 9,000 rebounds, and has long been one of the league’s premier jumpshooting centers. Horford is playing his first year with the Warriors, who honored him with a bobblehead for Latino Heritage Night on Wednesday.
“He fits any lineup, makes every lineup better,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said earlier this season, later adding, “He’s a guy who has been around for a long time and seen everything, and the game comes very naturally for him.”
It is an unimpeachable resume, even if Horford defers to his father as being the original trailblazer.
“That’s a legacy I have within my family, and it’s something I’m very thoughtful of and very proud of,” Horford said.
Now 39, Horford embraces his role as a mentor for his younger countrymen and those coming from the rest of Latin America.
Unlike when he was coming of age in the early 2000s, that next generation of Latino hoopers has a far easier time getting their name out into the wider basketball ecosystem.
“I think that now, with social media and technology, they’re getting more and more opportunities to showcase their talents, and their reach is bigger,” Horford said.
Al Horford #20 reacts with Gary Payton II #0 of the Golden State Warriors after Payton II is fouled by the Chicago Bulls during the first half at Chase Center on March 10, 2026 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
Take Karim Lopez, the 19-year-old phenom who is set to become the first Mexican-born player to be drafted in the first round of the NBA draft.
He is one of a growing number of Latino athletes who grew up watching players such as Horford, Manu Ginobili (Argentina) and JJ Barea (Puerto Rico) star at the highest level.
While Horford admitted that baseball is still “king” in his home country and soccer dominates much of Latin America, he said that interest in basketball is growing in the region.
As long as those countries are represented in the NBA, Horford believed that basketball’s foothold is only set to grow.
“When you have those players like myself and other Latin players that are playing right now, I feel like it gives guys optimism,” Horford said. “It gives them hope that they can, if they work hard and things go their way, that they can make it to this level.”
On the court is not the only place basketball is aiming to become more Latino, and Horford believed it was just as important to make fans from that group also feel welcome.
During a recent Spurs game in San Antonio, the team responded to a video of a fan taking offense to a large presence of Latino fans watching the game in a city that is 64.6% Hispanic.
Horford hopes that instances like that are outnumbered by examples of the unifying power of sports.
“I do feel like the U.S. continues to become a more diverse country, and therefore there’s going to be more diversity with fan bases and things like that,” Horford said. “But ultimately, it doesn’t matter where we’re from. We’re all rooting for whatever team we’re cheering for.”
Horford might be looking toward the future, but in the more immediate present, he still feels like he can contribute to the Warriors despite missing the past seven games with a calf injury.
“I want to be there for the guys, and I’m doing everything that I can to make sure that I get myself ready to help us when the time comes,” Horford said.