Al Thornton

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Al Thornton
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Thornton with the Wizards in January 2011
Free agent
Position Small forward / Power forward
Personal information
Born (1983-12-07) December 7, 1983 (age 40)
Perry, Georgia
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight 235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
High school Perry (Perry, Georgia)
College Florida State (2003–2007)
NBA draft 2007 / Round: 1 / Pick: 14th overall
Selected by the Los Angeles Clippers
Playing career 2007–present
Career history
2007–2010 Los Angeles Clippers
2010–2011 Washington Wizards
2011 Golden State Warriors
2012 Guayama Wizards
2012 Zhejiang Lions
2014 Guayama Wizards
2015–2016 NLEX Road Warriors
Career highlights and awards

Willie Alford Thornton (born December 7, 1983) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the NLEX Road Warriors of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). He had formerly played for the Los Angeles Clippers, Washington Wizards and the Golden State Warriors. Collegiately, he played for Florida State University.

College career

Thornton's outstanding four-year career at Florida State University was capped off by a stellar individual senior year that saw him make the AP Third-Team All-American, a unanimous selection to the First-Team All-ACC team, and was runner up to Boston College's Jared Dudley for the ACC Player of the Year. He led the ACC in scoring and averaged over 7 rebounds per game as well. His season came to a disappointing end as the Seminoles did not qualify for the NCAA tournament for the ninth straight season and were forced to play in the NIT.[1]

Professional career

Los Angeles Clippers

On June 28, 2007, Thornton was taken 14th overall in the 2007 NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. Thornton also has the same agent as Yao Ming. On July 9, Thornton played his first summer league game for the Clippers, scoring 24 points and registering 8 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks in a 108–102 loss to the Denver Nuggets.

In just his third preseason game as a rookie, Thornton led the Clippers to a win over the Golden State Warriors with 24 points on 11–15 shooting, including a perfect 2–2 from behind the 3-point arc while also connecting on all 8 of his first attempts from the floor.

With Ruben Patterson in the starting lineup at the start of the season, Thornton would not get the playing time he had received during preseason. Patterson was waived on December 13, 2007 in order to give the rookie more playing time.[2] With a slew of injuries to the Clippers' big men, including Paul Davis with a torn ACL, Tim Thomas with recurring back and ankle injuries, and Elton Brand sidelined with a ruptured achilles tendon, Thornton took advantage of his minutes playing power forward and small forward when teammate Corey Maggette was on the bench.

File:Al Thornton cropped.jpg
Thornton with the Clippers in March 2009.

On January 30, 2008, Thornton scored a then season-high 33 points against the Atlanta Hawks, including a significant block in the final seconds in a 95–88 Clipper win.[3] Thornton also recorded his first[4] double-double on February 9, in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, in which he had 18 points and 10 rebounds.[5]

On March 29, 2008, Thornton equaled a rookie franchise record (and Clippers season-high) 39 points on 13 of 23 field goal shooting, 3 of 6 from behind the arch, and 10 of 12 from the line in a 110–97 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Thornton scored 20 of his 39 in the fourth quarter to seal the win and snap the Clippers' 10-game losing streak.[6]

On May 13, 2008, Al Thornton was named to the 2008 NBA All-Rookie First Team.[7]

On October 31, 2008, Thornton had a double-double with 30 points and 11 rebounds, a season high.

Washington Wizards

On February 17, 2010, Thornton was traded from the Los Angeles Clippers to the Washington Wizards as part of a three-team, six-player trade that sent Antawn Jamison from Washington to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas, a 2010 first round pick and the rights to Emir Preldžič from Cleveland to Washington, Drew Gooden from Washington to Los Angeles, and Sebastian Telfair from Los Angeles to Cleveland.[8]

Golden State Warriors

On March 1, 2011, he reached a buyout agreement with the Wizards and was waived.[9] He signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors on March 3, 2011.[10]

On March 14, 2011, Thornton scored 23 points against the Sacramento Kings, his most points as a member of the Warriors.

Puerto Rico

On February 19, 2012, he signed with the Guayama Wizards of the Puerto Rican basketball league Baloncesto Superior Nacional.[11] There he averaged 18.7 points per game.[12]

China

On September 29, 2012, Thornton signed with the Zhejiang Lions of the Chinese Basketball Association.[12] Due to injury, he was replaced mid-season by Gary Forbes.[13]

Return to Puerto Rico

In March 2014, he rejoined the Guayama Wizards of the Baloncesto Superior Nacional.

Philippines

On January 2, 2015, he signed with the NLEX Road Warriors.[14]

In January 2016, Thornton returned to the Philippines to play again for the NLEX Road Warriors for the 2016 Commissioner's Cup.

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2007–08 L.A. Clippers 79 31 27.3 .429 .331 .743 4.5 1.2 .6 .5 12.7
2008–09 L.A. Clippers 71 67 37.4 .446 .253 .754 5.2 1.5 .8 .9 16.8
2009–10 L.A. Clippers 51 30 27.5 .478 .357 .741 3.8 1.2 .5 .4 10.7
2009–10 Washington 24 16 28.1 .463 .353 .694 4.3 1.2 .8 .5 10.7
2010–11 Washington 49 23 21.8 .471 .160 .757 3.2 1.0 .6 .2 8.0
2010–11 Golden State 22 0 14.3 .490 .000 .829 2.6 .5 .3 .1 6.0
Career 296 167 28.0 .452 .293 .747 4.2 1.2 .6 .5 11.9

Personal

Thornton is a cousin of fellow NBA player Marcus Thornton.[15] He is the son of Alford and Philomenia Thornton.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Player Bio: Al Thornton :: Men's Basketball
  2. ↑ Ruben Patterson
  3. ↑ Reeling Hawks' comeback try falls short against Clippers
  4. ↑ Al Thornton: Complete 2007-08 Regular Season Game Log
  5. ↑ 76ers ride balanced attack to third straight win
  6. ↑ Clippers stop Grizzlies to put end to 10-game drought
  7. ↑ Durant, Horford Headline T-Mobile All-Rookie Team
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Warriors Sign Free Agent Forward Al Thornton
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Al Thornton signs with Road Warriors in the Philippines
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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