David Thompson: A Generational Career LOST TO ADDICTION… and a nightclub fight | FPP

One of the most physically gifted players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers, In the era of the big man, he was above them all, soaring through the air as the Skywalker, but David Thompson wasn’t just a dunker. He along with a few others are credited with popularizing the dunk and the alley oop, but Thompson could score however he wanted to and was a perennial 25 point per game guy, who even dropped 73 points in an NBA game. On top of his great scoring, he was an underrated rebounder and one of the first guards who would consistently block shots as on top of being able to jump out the gym, he had hangtime for days and understood how to time his jumps. He lead the NC State Wolfpack to an undefeated season in 1973 and then the program’s first NCAA National Championship in 1974. In 1975, he was drafted first overall to the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks, and the ABA’s Virginia Squires. He would ultimately end up in the NBA where he became one of the top players along with guys like Julius Erving (Dr. J), George Gervin (The Iceman) and Artis Gilmore (A-Train). However the following season the ABA had merged with the NBA as Thompson’s Denver Nuggets had been absorbed into the league. So, Denver’s great trio of Thompson, Dan Issel and Bobby Jones would help the Nuggets remain a top team even in the NBA. But as time went on, trades happened and eventually the team moved on in a different direction with Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe. But during his Denver days, Thompson had began to struggle with Cocaine which led to a serious addiction that derailed a career with incredible potential. He still gave fans a lot of great basketball, but he spent his last two season with the Seattle Supersonics as a shell of his former self, still struggling with addiction, before a fall down some stairs during a nightclub fight in 1984 destroyed his knee and ended his career. As David Thompson was done playing professional basketball at the age of 29, but when you’re the player that Michael Jordan Idolized, that says everything one needs to know about your game.

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