Al Thornton, formerly of the L.A. Clippers
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LOS ANGELES, CA - DECEMBER 13: Al Thornton #12 of the Los Angeles Clippers shoots a jumper over Matt Bonner #12 of the San Antonio Spurs at Staples Center on December 13, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
After being drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers with the 14th overall pick in the 2007 Draft, Florida State alum Al Thornton began an NBA career that would last for the next four years. But although it would end quickly, he did not – and 15 years later, Thornton and his increasingly creaky knees are still playing professionally.
For the past 15 years, Thornton has plied his trade around the world, including multiple stops in China and Puerto Rico interspersed with stints in Venezuela, Japan and Korea. Of late, though, he has been mostly in Argentina, where he is currently spending his fifth consecutive season with a team named Penarol. And in his own inimitable Al Thornton-esque way, he is still getting buckets.
They Don’t Make Them Like This Any More
On the Argentinian season to date, Thornton – born in December 1983 and positively Jurassic by professional standards – is averaging 12.6 points, 3.0 rebounds and not much else per game. Such is the Al Thornton way.
Thornton’s NBA career peaked in its second season, when he scored 16.8 points per game for the Clippers at a time when 16.8 points per game was much harder to come by than it is now. Thornton was always a scoring machine and was drafted accordingly – along with contemporaries such as Shabazz Muhammad and T.J. Warren, he represented one of the final throes of the 6’8 mid-range scorer that was once such a mainstay at the NBA level. He can drive, finish, raise up, face up and post, as long as it is not from too far away from the paint.
What cost Thornton, though, was the evolution of the game around him, as well as his own lack of development. As the pace-and-space era took hold, Thornton – who offered neither – became more of a liability, with his lack of defensive mobility, floor spacing and consistent unwillingness to pass shrinking his role to that of inefficient, often play-breaking bench scorer. He had a lot of talent, but not the right talent.
In Argentina, though, it is a different story. The lower level of athleticism league-wide covers for his own, and although the rest of the world has also tried to adopt the NBA’s focus on spacing principles, they have not the talent level of players with which to do it. Those who like to take two dribbles before ranging up from the mid-post, then, still have a place. And with his plethora of experience, footwork and finishing, Thornton is still a pest at the Argentinian level.
Thornton’s Brief Clippers Career
Across his four NBA seasons, Thornton would play 296 games, and finished with career averages of 11.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 28.0 minutes per game. He shot 45.2% from the field, but never brought consistent three-point range into his game, finishing with a 29.3% career three-point percentage on minimal attempts. And his shot charts were very 1993.
Most of that time would come with the Clippers, although he was traded partway through his third season (along with noted economic analyst Sebastian Telfair going to the Cleveland Cavaliers) to the Washington Wizards in a three-team deal for Drew Gooden. Thornton would play one calendar year in Washington, then was bought out at the 2011 deadline, signed with the Golden State Warriors to close out the season, was re-signed for 2011-12 training camp, but was cut before the season began. He never signed in the NBA again.