If Al stayed and retired a Celtic, would he have a bigger legacy than KG?

[radiohead]

All these press releases today got me thinking. If Al didn?t leave, who would have a bigger legacy as a Celtic? Him or KG?

[Roy H.]

KG.  He was a culture changer and was a dominant force on the 2008 title team.

[SparzWizard]

Would've still been KG even if Horford stayed and retired as a Celtic.

[Who]

No. Horford's impact was nowhere near KG's impact.

[Donoghus]

No way. 

Celtics acquiring KG and the subsequent aftermath was a seismic shift in Celtics and Boston sports.

[Moranis]

He wouldn't even be ahead of Allen

[Csfan1984]

+1 on not even close to Allen.

[Donoghus]

One thing that should be noted for Al is how big his signing was with Boston back in 2016.  The narrative had always been that the Celtics never got free agents (a deeper dive would show it very often for cap reasons) but the significance of his signing with the Celtics was a very big deal.  Most significant free agent signing in Celtics history.

[Moranis]

Is he even top 8 since 2008

I mean there are 6 guys clearly ahead of him in hierarchy.  Tatum, Pierce, KG, Brown, Rondo, Allen. 

I think Smart is also clearly ahead of him.  So for 8 it would come down to him or Perk I think.  I'd probably lean Al, but they had similar roles on title teams and Perk was traded didn't leave in free agency twice. I'd have White at 9, but he can certainly bump up that list.

Then you have other guys on teams that weren't here as long, but left huge marks (good and bad) on the franchise.  Those guys being Jrue, KP, Hayward, Irving, and IT4. 

Hard to say how all those guys will be perceived 25 years from now.  I mean Al might be thought of more like Jerry Sichting or Bill Walton (as a C) instead of someone more like Dennis Johnson.  And people still talk very fondly of Dominique's 1 season in Boston.  I think he is remembered more than Sichting (which may happen with Irving, though not for fondness but for the disaster his 2 seasons were).  Legacy is a weird thing and Al did play more seasons in Atlanta than he did in Boston (and unlike KG was not still in his prime or the best player on a title team).