[4] In 1960–61, as a sophomore (freshmen could not play varsity in his era), Thorn averaged 18.5 points and 12.5 rebounds and 2.7 assists for Coach George King and the 23–4 West Virginia Mountaineers men's basketball team.

He was the Southern Conference Player of the Year and a Second Team All-American selection, beside John Havlicek of Ohio State University, among others.

[11] In his rookie season 1963–64, Thorn was named to the NBA All-Rookie Team averaging 14.4 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists for the Bullets under Hall of Fame Coach Slick Leonard.

Playing alongside Future Hall of Famers Richie Guerin (player/coach), Zelmo Beaty, Lenny Wilkens and Cliff Hagan, as well as Joe Caldwell, Paul Silas and Bill Bridges, Thorn saw his minutes reduced.

The Hawks lost the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Division Finals 4–3 after having beaten Baltimore 3–0 to advance.

The Hawks defeated the expansion Chicago Bulls 3–0 in the playoffs, before losing to the San Francisco Warriors with Rick Barry and Nate Thurmond 4–2 in the Western Division finals.

[18] Thorn averaged a career high 15.2 points with 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists, in 1967–68, as the expansion SuperSonics finished 23–58 under Coach Al Bianchi.

[13] In 1971–72, Thorn joined his former teammate and coach Lenny Wilkens as an assistant with the SuperSonics and the team finished 47–35.

[26] Thorn was hired the head coach of the Spirits of St. Louis with then-star Marvin Barnes for the 1975–76 ABA season.

The Spirits' roster also included Hall of Famer Moses Malone, Caldwell Jones, Mike D'Antoni, Gus Gerard, Maurice Lucas, Ron Boone, M.L.

Carr and Don Chaney, but after a 20–27 start he was fired in December, 1975 and replaced by Joe Mullaney.

'"[2] Thorn returned to the New York Nets and Loughery as an assistant coach when the franchise joined the NBA in 1976–77.

Thorn hired Jerry Sloan as Head Coach, drafted Reggie Theus and had Artis Gilmore in the middle.

[30] (he also selected track star Carl Lewis, with the draft on the eve of the 1984 Olympic Games, simply for patriotic publicity purposes).

There was further speculation Thorn might select Jordan's North Carolina's teammate Sam Perkins, (who was drafted at No.

4), because the Bulls had recently selected shooting guards in previous drafts and Thorn had just traded All-Star Reggie Theus.

[32] From 1986 to 2000 Thorn was the NBA's Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, serving as the league's chief disciplinarian.

On August 11, 2010, Thorn was hired as president of the 76ers, taking over the title from Ed Stefanski, who remained with the team as the general manager.

[36] On October 18, 2011, prior to a press conference introducing the 76ers' new ownership group, it was announced that Stefanski was leaving the organization and Thorn would be both president and general manager.

In 2012, Tony DiLeo was named the team's general manager, but Thorn retained his title as president.