Ranking all of Steph’s teammates: #81 — Al Thornton

On June 25, 2009, the Golden State Warriors drafted Steph Curry. Ten years and 16 days later, the Oklahoma City Thunder traded Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets. With that move, Curry moved to second in the NBA for longest tenure with his current team. The only player he sits behind is Udonis Haslem, though that feels like a technicality. At this point, Haslem is essentially an assistant coach for the Miami Heat, having appeared in just 43 games and played fewer than 300 minutes over the last four seasons combined.

During his time in the Bay Area, Curry has had 106 teammates who have appeared in at least one game. Some played in exactly one game, while others played in hundreds. Some never actually played in a game that Curry was active for, while others formed historically great partnerships with him.

And I’m ranking all 106, one a day, over the course of three months.

Players are ranked — and stats are shown — based only on their time as Curry’s teammate. How good/bad they were in other organizations doesn’t matter. How good/bad they were on pre-2009-10 Warriors teams doesn’t matter.

To see all of the rankings thus far, you can click on the “Ranking Steph’s teammates” tag at the top of the article.

#81 — Al Thornton

Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images

Games: 22 (78th out of 106)
Points per game: 6.0 (47th out of 106)
Rebounds per game: 2.6 (T-59th out of 106)
Assists per game: 0.5 (T-81st out of 106)

Al Thornton’s time with the Warriors was like so many others who have already graced this list. He bounced around the NBA, looking for a home and a role, before finishing things out unceremoniously with the Dubs.

The 14th overall pick in the 2007 NBA Draft — taken six spots after the Warriors selected Brandan Wright — Thornton was on his third and final team when he signed with the Warriors late in the 2010-11 season. He finished the season with the Warriors and, when no one signed him prior to the next year, headed overseas.

He definitely had some bright spots with the Dubs. In just his seventh game in Golden State he scored 23 points in fewer than 22 minutes, while shooting a 7-8 from the field.

All in all, he reached double figures four times with the Warriors, though his final stats weren’t that impressive. He scored the ball with decent efficiency, but didn’t really do anything else. He wasn’t a playmaker or a good defender, and despite being able to score, the ball often stopped when it found his hands. He could have nice individual offensive performances, but the offense didn’t seem to function well with him on the court. He had great athleticism but it didn’t seem to translate to much functionality.

He was also coming in at the wrong era. Thornton perhaps would have functioned better in the 80s or 90s, but he entered the league right as the three-ball was booming, and that wasn’t part of his game. Despite being a 6-foot-8 forward, he attempted just one triple with the Dubs.

But he had his moments, and they were fun, and he is Curry’s 81st best Warriors teammate. And I absolutely have his autographed rookie card in a shoe box in a closet in my parent’s house.