NEW ORLEANS (AP) -Marcus Thornton believes in destiny.
And why not? It’s as if the NBA came to him.
There was no team in his native Louisiana for most of his childhood, then the Hornets moved from Charlotte to New Orleans in 2002. The Hornets acquired the Baton Rouge native and former LSU star in the second round of last summer’s draft.
Considering the way he has performed as an NBA rookie, it looks as though he’ll be playing close to home for quite some time.
Thornton has become a starting shooting guard and a reliable scorer. He’s reached double-digit points in 21 of his last 22 games, including his 18 points in the Hornets’ victory over the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night.
He has set several franchise records, including points in a quarter with 23 during the second period of a game at Cleveland in February. Coming off the bench in that game, he finished the contest with 37 points, a franchise record for points by a reserve.
R. Smith.
Nothing he has done surprises Trent Johnson, who coached Thornton his senior season at LSU.
“He does something a lot of guys can’t do, which is really score,” Johnson said. “He was SEC player of the year. That’s one of the premier conferences in the country. He won a lot of games for us single-handedly.”
Thornton made a believer out of Cleveland coach Mike Brown with his 23-point quarter.
“He’s an unbelievable talent,” Brown said. “He got it all kinds of ways – shooting 3s, pick-and-roll, in transition, breaking his man down, you name it. He showed the ability to put that ball in the hole, so he was a difficult cover for us.”
Having led LSU to a regular season title his senior year, Thornton was an instant favorite among Hornets fans. Every time he scores at home games, the opening four-note blast of LSU’s fight song, instantly recognizable around these parts, plays over the public address system.
Thornton knows he belongs in the NBA now. He exudes supreme confidence on the court, never hesitating to pull up for an open 3 or take a seasoned defender off the dribble on a fearless drive to the hoop.
Yet Thornton’s introduction to the pros tested his confidence and patience.
overall choice on him and deal him to the Hornets in exchange for two future second-round picks.
Players taken in the second round do not receive guaranteed contracts and often don’t even make the teams that draft them.
“They said draft night is a crazy night and to expect anything, but I didn’t expect to slip down that far,” Thornton said. “I guess it worked out for the best because I’m here.”
When he was told five minutes after Miami selected him that he was being traded to New Orleans, “I thought it was a joke until I actually heard it on TV,” he said.
“It made me feel good and made my family feel good that I was staying at home,” he added. “When they made the trade, it was destined. They did all that to get me, so I felt like it was good.”
On days off, Thornton makes the 80-minute drive to Baton Rouge to see family, friends or to take in an LSU game or practice. Thornton said his relatives have busy lives but come to New Orleans en masse for those home games that don’t interfere with their jobs.
“The chaos comes on the weekends,” Thornton said, referring to the crush of ticket requests and guests at his downtown apartment.
Thornton was hardly seen as an NBA star in waiting coming out of high school. Rather, he spent two years at junior college in Kilgore, Texas, before LSU brought him home to play in Division I. In his two seasons with the Tigers, he averaged about 20 points per game.
a high-calibre kid and people lost sight of that,” Johnson said. “Marcus gives you that puppy-dog look sometimes, but he has very high basketball IQ.”
Coach Jeff Bower said the Hornets had the benefit of seeing Thornton play often in Baton Rouge and recognized that he had enough ability at shooting guard to overcome his 6-foot-4 height, which is on the short side for that position.
“We thought Marcus had a lot of instincts and aggressiveness that were qualities we liked,” said Bower, also the Hornets general manager. “We gave up two second-round picks to acquire him, so we had some degree of confidence and expectations that he was going to become an effective player.”
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