made a surprising request before the Clippers played their first Summer League game here Friday against the Lakers.
Thornwell, drafted 48th by the Clippers after he capped his four-year career at South Carolina by leading the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Final Four appearance, wanted the responsibility of defending Lakers forward Brandon Ingram, the best and most experienced player on the Lakers’ summer squad. Knowing that Thornwell sought a tough assignment in his first game in a Clippers uniform gave Sam Cassell, their Summer League coach, considerable insight into the 6-foot-5 guard’s fearless mind-set.