Boston Celtics big man Al Horford owns perhaps the weirdest habit on the NBA court among all players. For some reason, Horford sometimes ducks as though he was about to get hit by a boulder when a ball bounces off the rim. Instead of boxing out to get the rebound or just get out of the ball’s way, Horford would act like a kid who is about to get a mighty beating from his parents.

This has happened enough number of times to Horford that we have reached the point at which an explanation to this odd phenomenon is needed. It’s just befuddling to see a hulking 6-foot-10 NBA power forward who is paid millions of dollars partly to rebound the ball get terrified by it.

Fortunately, Taylor Snow of Celtics.com was able to corner Al Horford so that he could finally shine light on this mystery.

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“I just try to keep it loose sometimes for the guys,” Horford explained. “The game is so serious at times, and I take it very seriously, but there are times that you put things in perspective. It’s something I’ve been doing for years. I kind of stopped doing it, but the other night it was just (smiles) – I was just messing around.”

So there we have it. Horford is simply toying out there on the court whenever he does his flinching, which makes sense since he usually does it during non-crucial moments in games.

It would have been more interesting if Horford decided not to give an explanation so as not to kill the mystery, but he’s probably gotten tired being asked about it that he just felt he needed this issue get laid to rest.