GRAND LEDGE — There can’t be athletes in the world who have it better than Al Horford. He has the richest contract ever signed by a Lansing-area athlete, plays for a storied franchise and on a team that is near the top of the NBA and rising.

Couple all that with a beautiful young family and, well, he’ll probably win the award for “I wish I was that guy” at the next reunion for Grand Ledge’s class of 2004.

Horford, 31, was back at his alma mater Friday and Saturday, helping his brother Jon with a basketball camp at Grand Ledge.

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He’s entering the second year of a four-year, $113 million contract with the Boston Celtics, signed last summer after playing his first nine seasons with the Atlanta Hawks.

Couch: Why do you come back and do camps like this?

Horford: I wanted to come here and support him and spend some time with people here in Grand Ledge and the Lansing area. It’s just a good way for us to give back and make a difference.

Looking back at your time at Grand Ledge, any memories that stand out in this gym?

I think one of the defining games for our group, we beat Lansing Everett (the eventual state champs, with Goran Suton and Derick Nelson) my senior year. Great game, I think double overtime. Very emotional game. We had a packed house. So that was pretty cool.

You play for one of the more intriguing teams in the NBA right now. With what’s happening now and these possibilities (winning the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, the early draft picks, signing Gordon Hayward), was this the recruiting pitch last year when you signed as a free agent?

That was it. I looked at everything. They were recruiting me last summer. I was in a position in Atlanta where we still (were competitive), we beat them in the playoffs, we were ahead of them, but I did like how they played, the grit that the guys had on the team. And I just felt like if we were able to add some pieces and put some things together, we were going to have a chance to do some special things. And I think last year we surprised a lot of people how we did. And this summer, we add Gordon Hayward and bring in a number of good players and drafted (Jayson) Tatum and added some other pieces, I think it puts us in a position where it’s what I was expecting when I came into play with the Celtics.

I saw the potential. You get to the point where, we were very successful in Atlanta, making the playoffs every year, and we had some great teams, but when I looked at my future and being in the best opportunity where I felt I had an opportunity to win a championship, I felt like Boston, after meeting with them, I had the sense that we were going to have a chance to compete.

You’re known a cerebral big man, now playing for an analytical coach in Brad Stevens. What kind of fit is that?

I think it’s great. Coach has really challenged me this first year to really think the game in different ways than I have thought about it before. He’s put me in positions on the floor, just making plays and making reads that I probably wasn’t making in Atlanta. I’m playing a lot out at the top of the key. With him, I get in the block, but I also play outside, and I’m making guard reads, so I’m handling the ball. I’m in a position where I need to lead the defense, make the right plays.

It’s fun There’s a lot of movement. It’s uptempo. It was an adjustment year. I think this year will be smoother.

I read that you were part of the recruiting pitch to Gordon Hayward. How did that go down?

I think with him it was about winning. Not that he couldn’t win in Utah, but he felt he had a good chance with the Celtics to do something special. I give him a lot of respect, because he put stability, money, everything aside and came to Boston because he wants to win. So it speaks volumes to the type of person he is.

What’s it like to be pitched as an NBA free agent?

They can throw you everything you want to hear, but, at the end of the day, you have to be a little more. Everybody, I guess is a little different. You’re not going to sell me, sweet-talk me. I know what I want. I know what I expect. I see what I like. And that’s what happened last year. At the end of the day, you have to go with your gut.

Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch