:24 HOOP: Do you have any memories of your dad¹ playing in the NBA, or were you too young?
Horford: I don’t really remember him playing in the NBA, but I did see him play overseas when I was a little older. I’m from the Dominican Republic, and baseball’s our sport, but watching him play made me want to play basketball.

:23 HOOP: Do you follow baseball?
Horford: Oh, I’m a big baseball fan. I don’t have a team, but I like a lot of Dominican players, Albert Pujols, David Ortiz. ... I’m always keeping up with the guys and how they’re doing.

:22 HOOP: You’re kind of following in your mother’s footsteps as well, right? She was a journalist and now you’re journaling online.²
Horford: It’s different, the stuff that she wrote about, of course. I get to write about myself. That’s easy.

:21 HOOP: Is it true you would have pursued a broadcast career if not for the NBA?
Horford: Yeah, I was going to school for communications. That was my major.³

:20 HOOP: You announced the starting lineup for the T-Mobile Rookie Challenge & Youth Jam⁴ at All-Star this year. What was that like?
Horford: Very random. They told me a few hours before the game started, “You’re going to be announcing.” I tried to put a little twist on it. I asked some of the guys if they wanted any nicknames called during their intros or anything.

:19 HOOP: Were you more nervous doing that or playing in the game?
Horford: Probably doing that. Once I started doing it, I was OK, but at the beginning I have to say I was nervous.

:18 HOOP: Do you announce the lineups in the new NBA Ballers video game?
Horford: Some stuff. If you do story mode on the game, I will come out and talk in the game.⁵ Chuck D handles all of the announcing, though.

:17 HOOP: Is the NBA life as glamorous as it looks on NBA Ballers?
Horford: I’d say it’s pretty similar. If you look at some of the guys in the League, especially some of the older guys, they have those big houses and cars. It’s definitely the NBA lifestyle.

:16 HOOP: Speaking of the NBA lifestyle, we hear you were hob-knobbing with the movie stars during All-Star.
Horford: Oh yeah, I got to meet Chris Tucker and hang out with him. I’ve always been a big fan of him and his movies. You would think that people are different in real life, but he’s just a cool guy.

:15 HOOP: What’s your favorite Jessica Alba movie?
Horford: She was cool in Fantastic Four and she was good in Honey. I’m just a fan of hers, period. Doesn’t matter what she’s in [laughs].

:14 HOOP: Favorite Denzel movie?
Horford: I like Man on Fire, Training Day. There’s a lot—American Gangster was good. Remember the Titans is one of my favorites. Whatever role he plays, he does it really well.

:13 HOOP: Transitioning from Denzel Washington to Washington, D.C., we read that you would like to be president of the United States for a day.
Horford: Yeah. I really don’t know what I’d do, but just being in that position of power and authority and being able make important decisions would be cool.

:12 HOOP: You visited the White House twice after winning back-to-back NCAA titles. Tell us about your visits.
Horford: It was a great experience. We didn’t take a full tour, as we were in designated guest areas, but from what I saw it was really nice. We got to meet the President⁶ and take pictures with him.

:11 HOOP: Was there a ping-pong table in the White House?
Horford: No, I don’t think so [laughs]. Not that I saw anyway.

:10 HOOP: How long have you been playing?
Horford: I started playing with my buddies when I was about 9 or 10 years old in the Dominican. We’d get out of school at 2, and basketball practice wasn’t until about 4, so in our spare time we’d go and play ping pong.

:09 HOOP: What’s the scouting report on Al Horford’s ping-pong game?
Horford: He’s got a solid strong hand. You want to stay away from it. And he’s got a pretty crazy serve.

:08 HOOP: What’s your best offensive stroke?
Horford: I’d say my ability to play the long game. I’m able to put the ball right at the end of the table in the corner where you think it’s going out, but it’s bouncing.

:07 HOOP: We saw you beat Cheryl Miller on TNT.
Horford: Yeah, we were just playing a little friendly. She’s OK [laughs]. We were just kind of volleying around. I took it easier on her.

:06 HOOP: Do you have your own custom paddle?
Horford: No. I always try to be equal with everybody that comes over to my house. I don’t want anyone to say, “Oh, you’ve got your own paddle. That’s an unfair advantage.”

:05 HOOP: Sounds like you could have used an advantage in the Hawks’ ping-pong tournament.
Horford: [laughs] I never lost before that. We were playing for about two months, almost every day, and I was winning every game. Then we had a tournament and everyone from Hawks staff to Hawks players were in there rooting for the underdog, which was Marvin Williams. I definitely have to admit that it got to me a little bit. It was like me against the world. But I’ll give him credit. He got me.

:04 HOOP: Who played?
Horford: A lot of staff, some coaches and most of the players. Joe Johnson can play. Dominique Wilkins, he actually played and he’s pretty good. Marvin and I played, and both worked our way to the championship.

:03 HOOP: How does ping pong compare to basketball?
Horford: You have to be quick with your hands and eye coordination in both. I guess you could say that.

:02 HOOP: How did you like Balls of Fury?
Horford: I’ve never seen that movie. I saw the previews and stuff, but I thought I’d wait until it came out on DVD. If it’s on HBO one day or something, I might watch it.

:01HOOP: We can see it now: Balls of Fury 2, starring Al Horford!
Horford: Man, we’ve got to make it good⁷ in that case.

OVERTIME: Web Exclusive

:18HOOP:You have to be happy with your play and your team’s success this year?
Horford:Definitely. I was trying to fit in from day one and I felt like I was getting the opportunity to play a lot. But also as far as the team, making the playoffs. So it’s been a good year.

:17HOOP:This is only your first year with the Hawks, but have you been able to get a sense of what returning to the playoffs meant for this franchise?
Horford:It meant a lot. Everything that I had been hearing before I got here was how bad they were and how they never made the playoffs, and all this. Being my first year with the team and I feel making the playoffs was a big deal, not only for us players, but also for the franchise in general.

:16HOOP:What does the future hold for this team with so many young players?
Horford:Well, it depends. You know, we have a few guys whose contracts are coming up, so it will be interesting to see what happens and who we add to the team. But I feel like it looks bright. We’ve got players in positions that we need. We have a solid point guard in Acie Law, who’s just going to keep coming on and keep getting better, and hopefully we can keep Mike Bibby around for a while.

:15HOOP:What’s Bibby brought to this team as a veteran floor general?
Horford:He’s really just opened it up for us. He’s experienced and he can score in a lot of ways. Not only that, but I think he makes everyone else better around him. He always has something to tell me on offense, or things that I should do to help the team. He makes everyone better around him.

:14HOOP:How do you feel about your play during your rookie season?
Horford:I feel good. I’m still learning. You know I try to come out with the same mentality every night and just play my game. I feel like I did okay, but obviously there’s some improvements.

:13HOOP:Was there any rookie hazing?
Horford:You know, not really. The guys were pretty cool. I think part of it is because even though I’m a rookie, a lot of us are around the same age, everyone’s really young so they’re pretty cool. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I expected something, but I always come into a new situation, like when I came into Florida, just being me with a positive attitude, ready to work and get better, and I feel like maybe the guys respected that and went a little light on me.

:12HOOP:: Maybe it was the two NCAA titles. You came in with a little bit more respect. Talk about being a Florida guy. Do you keep in touch with your teammates?
Horford:Yeah, I talk to those guys. We just played Joakim the other day. They beat us earlier in the week and then we beat them at home. Two pretty intense games, so we ended up 2-2 against each other. And then with Corey (Brewer), I talk to him all the time. I talk to Taurean Green, our point guard, Chris Richards, so I mean, we’re always in touch. Whether it’s text messaging or calling each other, we try to keep in touch.

:11HOOP:What did it mean to come in together as teammates? That must have been special.
Horford:Definitely. You play on a college team and you want to have the opportunity to go into the NBA, but having four of your teammates go along with you and go through the same experience, and same process with you, it’s just a good feeling to have those guys around you.

:10HOOP:Did you razz them about being drafted ahead of them?
Horford:Not really. I think we were pretty excited just about the chance of making some history, with three of us from the same team going in the top 10. So that was special and we really knew how much that meant, not only for us but for the coaches and Florida and everything.

:09HOOP:: The three of you could have entered the NBA a year earlier, but you decided to go back and chase a second NCAA Championship. What did that mean to accomplish that, and how was that decision made?
Horford:Oh man, it means everything. After winning the first one, we had an opportunity to come out, but we felt that we could get better as players and we enjoyed each other’s company playing together, so we wanted to do it again. I tell this to a lot of people, but just the experiences of going through the preseason, the regular season and the tournament with the guys, that was the funnest part. Just being able to hang out with them and spend time with each other, and of course winning a championship made it that much better.

:08HOOP:How special was that winning a second title? Florida became the first school in 15 years to repeat.
Horford:It was big, man. You know, we did it, but Coach always says, “It’s not going to sink in for a while. You guys don’t know what you accomplished.” That’s what he always says to us, whenever we talk to him. You appreciate it and it means a lot to me to be able to be a part of that.

:07HOOP:What’s been the biggest adjustment for you to the NBA?
Horford:I think just the amount of games and definitely the winning and losing. You know, whether you win or lose, you’ve got another game the next day or the following day, so it’s just being able to be into the game emotionally and play your hardest, but knowing that you might not win the game, or if you win that’s over with and you have to move on to the next game.

:06HOOP:Being that your dad played in the NBA, did that help you prepare at all? Was he able to give you advice or tips?
Horford:It did, but I think just playing at Florida, too, that gave me a better sense because Coach was always very business like in all the trips that we did and all the games that we played. I think that really prepared me for this level, because that’s the way teams handle things here.

:05HOOP:Is it true that you and David Ortiz are close?
Horford:My dad and him are real cool. A lot of the baseball players, from what I hear, they kind of looked up to him because he was the first Dominican to play in the NBA. So he knows a lot of those guys, Vladamir Guerrero, Pedro Martinez, all those guys. I know Pedro Martinez…

:04HOOP:What did that mean to you to endorse and help be a part of the process of making the video game NBA Ballers?
Horford:Yeah man. It was something really, really exciting for me, being a part of the game. It was amazing for me. A good experience. I really enjoyed the whole process.

:03HOOP:What games did you play growing up?
Horford:I played NBA Jam, Super Mario, all those games on Super Nintendo.

:02HOOP:What’s your favorite super hero movie?
Horford:I like the last Batman movie, Batman Begins. That was pretty good. I’d probably have to go with that. I like Spider-Man too, but would probably have to go with that. There’s a new one coming out this summer.

:01HOOP:If you could be a super hero, what power would you want?
Horford:I’d probably want to be able to fly. I’d never have to drive anywhere. I could just go around, fly wherever I want. But Dwight Howard already has the cape thing.