David Thompson
David Thompson was born in Shelby, North Carolina, United States on July 13th, 1954 and is the Basketball Player. At the age of 69, David Thompson biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 69 years old, David Thompson has this physical status:
David O'Neil Thompson (born July 13, 1954) is an American retired professional basketball player.
He played for the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA.
He appeared in college for North Carolina State, helping the Wolfpack win their first NCAA championship in 1974.
Thompson is one of six players to score 70 or more points in a NBA game.
In 1996, Thompson was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Thompson was known for his extraordinary leaping skills, which enabled him to become one of the game's top tennkers in the 1970s, earning him the nickname "Skywalker."
"The whole meaning of vertical leap began with David Thompson," Michael Jordan said. "Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James rolled into one," Bill Walton described Thompson.
Life after the NBA
Thompson worked with the Charlotte Hornets' community relations team in 1990 and, at the age of 37, participated in the Legends Classic in 1992, but he was one of two participants (with Norm Nixon) who were banned from court on stretchers with serious leg injuries. Since the 1993 festivities, the league decided to suspend the competition.
Thompson earned his sociology degree at North Carolina State in 2003. Skywalker, his autobiographical film, was shot next year. On May 6, 1996, Michael Jordan was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and Michael Jordan was introduced for the latter's 2009 induction. He currently works as a motivational speaker and appears in Hornets and Denver Nuggets events.
Personal life
Erika and Brooke, Thompson and his wife Cathy, had two children, Erika and Brooke. After he returned to school to earn his sociology degree, he joined his daughter Erika on December 17, 2003. Brooke's daughter, Brooke, was a member of Global GUTS. Cathy died in August 2016.
High school career
Thompson attended Crest Senior High School and spent four years with the Varsity Basketball team at the school. In 1971, he appeared in the East-West All-Star Basketball Game of the North Carolina Coaches Association. Thompson is Alvin Gentry's first cousin, and both are growing up in Shelby, North Carolina.
College career
Thompson led North Carolina State University to an undefeated season (27-0) in 1973, but the Wolfpack was barred from post-season play that year due to NCAA rules violations surrounding Thompson's recruiting. In 1974, he led the Wolfpack to a 30–1 record and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship. NCSU defeated UCLA, the reigning national champions, in double overtime in the semifinal game. They triumphed 76–64 in the championship game. Because of his incredible vertical leap, his nickname was "Skywalker". Thompson and his NC State teammate Monte Towe invented the alley-oop pass, which was first used as an integral piece of NC State coach Norm Sloan's offense to capitalize on Thompson's leaping ability.
The 1974 NCAA Tournament championship, contested by NC State in an age in which only conference champions were invited to the NCAA tournament, is regarded as one of the best college basketball games of all time. Thompson and teammate Tommy Burleson led the Wolfpack to a 103-100 victory in overtime in a game with no clock or no three point field goal. For the game, Maryland shot 63% from the field, but lost. This year, Thompson and the Wolfpack will defend the national championship. Despite their high national ranking, Maryland's exclusion from the NCAA Tournament due to the loss would result in the NCAA Tournament's expansion next season to include teams other than the league champions.
Thompson is one of the Atlantic Coast Conference's most popular performers, including Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner, and Len Bias.
Thompson played basketball during the "Lew Alcindor" reign, which banned the slam dunk from 1967 to 1977. In 1975, when playing his last home game at NC State against UNC-Charlotte, a teammate's late in the second half Thompson on a breakaway earned him his first and only dunk of his college career, a goal that was promptly postponed due to a technical foul.
Thompson's number 44 is the lone number retired by the academy in men's basketball, with Thompson being the youngest ever to play in the sport.
Professional career
Thompson was the No. 1 in the United States. In the 1975 drafts of both leagues, there was 1 draft pick of both the American Basketball Association (Virginia Squires) and the National Basketball Association (Atlanta Hawks). He eventually signed with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA. In the first-ever Slam-Dunk Competition, held in Denver, 1976, he finished runner-up to Julius Erving, but was named MVP of the ABA All-Star Game. He was given a credenza television set as a reward.
The Nuggets defeated the Kentucky Colonels 60-24 and defeated the Kentucky Colonels in a hard-fought seven-game series that culminated in the 1976 NBA Finals. The Nuggets defeated Erving and the New York Nets in the finals, and Thompson averaged 28.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, with Thompson leading all scorers in a close 4–2 loss. Thompson was named as the 1976 ABA Rookie of the Year award after the season ended. Alvan Adams thanked David Thompson for deciding to play in the NBA as he received the 1976 NBA Rookie of the Year Award.
The two major basketball leagues in the United States joined together in the ABA–NBA merger only a few months ago, and Thompson continued with the Nuggets. He went on to play in the NBA All-Star Game for the fourth time. Thompson scored 73 points against the Detroit Pistons on April 9, 1978, the last day of the previous season's regular season, despite losing by percentage points to the San Antonio Spurs' George Gervin, who scored 63 points in a game played later the same day.
Thompson earned him $4 million over five years after his 1977-78 season, the first time he's been to a record contract extension. In 77 games this year, he returned to average 25.5 points after a foot injury forced him to miss the final 36 games of the 1979-1980 season. However, the Nuggets traded him to the Seattle SuperSonics on June 17, 1982, after he dropped to 14.9 points in 1981-82.
Thompson's first year in Seattle, he saw a little bit of a revival, releasing 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3 assists, which were still low numbers when compared to Denver's figures. Thompson averaged only 12 points in a two-game series loss to the Portland Trail Blazers last year in his last postseason appearance. Thompson missed virtually all of the 1983–84 season due to drug therapy. Following his release, the Sonics resigned him for the remaining nineteen games of the 1983–84 season, in which he averaged a career low of 12.6 points before an off-court 1984 knee injury forced him to resign.
Career statistics
Thompson's first professional year (1975–1976) was spent in the ABA. Due to the 1976 NBA-NBA merger, he played in the NBA for the remainder of his career.