The Dinner That Changed Everything: How Horford Joined His Former Enemies

The Golden State Warriors are off to a hot start. On opening night, they took care of business against the Los Angeles Lakers, and on Thursday, they narrowly defeated another Western Conference juggernaut in overtime with a 137–131 victory over the Denver Nuggets. 

It seems like the pieces are fitting in for Golden State. The addition of Jimmy Butler continues to work, and the role players are sliding into their roles perfectly.

One of the most underrated players for the Warriors through their first two games is Al Horford. Horford was the Warriors' big free agent signing, and he has seamlessly gelled into the Warriors' system. 

That fit wasn’t always going to be a given. Horford discussed with ESPN’s Anthony Slater about how joining the Warriors wasn’t easy. He said he doesn’t usually like to fraternize with opponents, and after losing the 2022 NBA Finals to the Warriors, they were the last guys he would be buddy-buddy with. 

However, a dinner between the Warriors’ veterans and a soon-to-join the Warriors, Al Horford. Not only were Steph and Draymond Green former playoff adversaries of Horford, but Jimmy Butler was one of his biggest rivals in the Eastern Conference over the years. 

Instead of avoiding the elephant in the room, Curry started to discuss Horford’s incredible performance during Game 1 of the NBA Finals. This led to the group talking about all of their playoff battles against one another and breaking the ice to start the 2025–26 season together with one goal: no more battling each other, let’s work together to win it all. 

For the Warriors, it's so far, so good. Two games, two wins. Al Horford seems to be fitting in perfectly, and the vibes on the team are sky high.