We saw what Al Thornton did when he found out he didn’t make it. That’s what happens. I thought he was one of the rookies that was going to make it.
This reminds me of when I was in the Rookie-Sophomore game. I was a starter. I started at the two over J-Rich I think. It was me and Tony Parker in the backcourt. But anyway, it was an All-Star game, so before the game we were over on the court messing around and our coach, Mike Fratello came in and cusses us out. I was over there thinking, “Man, are we in the playoffs? I’ve never been in the playoffs but I hope it’s not like this.” He was just giving it to us.
“You guys are having fun! This is not for fun! You have to go out there and play serious!”
So he made an early sub and subbed me out once the game started. Oh man, I was livid. I was hot on the bench, I was mad on the bench. So I’m sitting next to Jamal Tinsley and I’m like, “Yo, when we get in, I want the ball every time.”
And you know Tinsley, he’s like, “Aiight.”
Now I’m not even laughing no more. I’m mad. I’m on the bench ready to cry – boo hoo – I got subbed out – boo hoo – and I’m the only one that got subbed out – boo hoo. So we get in the game and Tinsley passed me the ball every time and I scored like 21 points in the second period and ta-dah, MVP! So I want to thank Coach Fratello, I don’t think I would have been holding up that MVP trophy if he hadn’t gotten mad at us and subbed us out. I don’t think I would have been mad enough to go out there and ball like that. So, players out there, take some of this coaching stuff and use it as motivation, like the kid Al Thornton. He had the same mentality I had. They snubbed him and he went out and had 33 against the Hawks. He went out there and showed the other rookie, Horford, this is how I do!
The difference between N. Young and Thornton's snub is Thornton is second in scoring among all rookies. Keep pouring in on Al and hopefully he can make ROY without making the All Star Team.
It'll be nice if Thornton has Gilbert Arenas like in his career. If Thornton can be a SF version of Arenas, good shooter, big scorer, clutch player, along with his athletecism, etc. that would really be nice.
Arenas: Thornton Was Snubbed
