The Boston Celtics celebrated their NBA Finals berth in the visiting locker room of Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Monday with a round of beers – one of which was conspicuously held by Al Horford’s nine-year-old son, Ean.
‘Spray it or chug it?’ a voice can be heard saying off camera as the elder Horford raised a Bud Light in his right hand and a can of Miller Light in his left.
In the foreground of the video shot by Celtics reporter Owen O’Connor stood Ean with his back to the camera. And although he’s only in elementary school, the younger Horford knew enough to get out of the way when his father’s teammates suggested spraying beers for their locker room celebration.
The room was quickly drenched with about $30 worth of lager, as shown by another video posted on X by the Celtics.
Ean also appeared to be taking cover behind his 6-foot-10 father, perhaps, to avoid any splashback.
Ean Horford (grey t-shirt) is seen holding a can of beern
Boston completed a Conference Finals sweep of the Indiana Pacers with Monday’s 105-102 Game 4 win.
That’s not only good for the Celtics, who are aiming to win their record 18th NBA crown, but young Ean as well.
As it turns out, Indiana actually has some of the strictest drinking laws in the country – one which may have been broken in the Celtics’ post-game celebration on Monday.
To be clear, Ean is not seen drinking or even spraying the beer in the video, but he is seen holding a can of Bud Light – and it is a Class C misdemeanor for a minor to knowingly ‘possess an alcoholic beverage’ in the state of Indiana.
Unfortunately for the Indiana Alcohol and Tobacco Commission, Ean Horford has already escaped back home to Massachusetts, where his father will prepare for the NBA Finals.
And in any case, prosecutors are allowed to use their own discretion when pursuing cases, so it’s obviously unlikely anyone will be reprimanded.
Ean Horford appeared to be in violation of Indiana’s strict alcohol laws on Monday
Ean Horford poses, left, after Boston clinched a conference title on Monday. Right, Al Horford is seen walking his son Ean into Boston’s TD Garden before a 2023 playoff game
Boston Celtics player Al Horford and his wife Amelia Vega are pictured in September of 2017
Boston will face the winner of the ongoing Mavericks-Timberwolves series, where Minnesota currently trails 3-0 heading into Tuesday’s Game 4 in Dallas.
The series could prove to be Horford’s last hurrah in Boston, where he’s had two successful stints with the Celtics, while failing to win his first NBA title. Although he’s owed $9.5 million next season, Horford is 37 and could be weighing retirement.
Furthermore, the veteran power forward from putting his family’s Boston-area mansion up for sale for an eye-watering $9 million.
The six-bedroom, seven-bathroom home is protected by a wrought iron gate and perimeter fence in Brookline – a ritzy suburb that has been inhabited by everyone from Tom Brady and Robert Kraft to John F. Kennedy.
The son of Tito Horford, a 7-foot-1 center who played with the Milwaukee Bucks and Washington Bullets in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the Dominican-born Al is in his second stint with the Celtics. He first played for Boston from 2016 through 2019, but after signing in Philadelphia in 2019 and being traded to Oklahoma City, Horford returned to Beantown in 2021 in a separate trade.
‘Big Al,’ as he’s known, is a five-time All-Star and two-time national champion at the University of Florida.
He married 2003 Miss Universe Amelia Vega in Santo Domingo on December 24, 2011 and the couple now has five children: Ean, as well as daughters Alía, Ava, Nova and their youngest, Mila, who was born in December of 2022.