By Eddie
David Thompson is remembered as one of the most talented Basketball ball players of all time; he was an incredible athlete with a remarkable ability to soar through the air, earning himself the nickname “skywalker”. His play has been compared to that Julius Irving’s and still today many discuss who was better. Some said he had the same talent as Earl Monroe and even Micheal Jordan. He played incredibly well in college at NC State, winning a national Championship, and went on to play NBA and became the highest paid team sport player.
To understand how good Thompson really was, you have to now more about his play. Still today he is remembered as one of the best dunkers of all time and the dunk was a huge part of his game. He had a vertical jump of 48 inches (four feet) that was a huge factor of his game. David Thompson wasn’t just a big man underneath though; he was capable dribbling and had a solid jump shot.
Listed below are some of his best plays in the NBA.
- David Thompson has the ball at around the right key, dribbles in an arc near the baseline and goes up for an incredible one hand jam.
- The offensive team makes a backdoor pass, David Thompson runs across the baseline and jumps swatting the ball away from an offensive play trying to dunk.
- David Thompson gets the ball from the free throw line area, splits two defenders, and jumps over the last man for a fantastic jam and one.
- David Thompson’s teammate takes a bad angle jump shot from behind the backboard that manages to hit the rim, David Thompson goes up to grab the ball and slams it with one hand.
- David Thompson beats a man and then another down the baseline, goes up and does a reverse two hand jam.
- David Thompson steals the ball at the mid court line and dribbles all the way down the rest of the court and makes an amazing one hand jam, 14 feet away from the hoop.
- A David Thompson teammate loses control of the ball and a counterattack is coming the other way. David Thompson from behind the play sprints all the way back to make a remarkable jump to block the shot and pins the ball on the backboard.
- This play is a great example of David Thompson getting it down on both sides of the Court. He gets a solid block on defense denying a drive and layup down the lane. Then moving the ball down the court a teammate finds Thompson in the paint who then makes a stunning behind the back, no look, assist to his teammate.
- David Thompson gets the ball in his defensive half and carries it all the way up the court. He jumps from about 12 feet away and dunks it over two defensive players in position.
- Taking the ball down the court David Thompson sees an opening. He beats one man and the lane is wide open so he can leap to the hoop. From 12 feet away he make his jump but a defender gets in the way, out of position. Thompson make contact well away from the rim and gets the foul, but before he come to the ground he reaches is out and dunks the ball in for an and one.
From Thompson’s best plays it is clear what type of player he is, a large powerful player that if many of professionals today went against would be frightened to play against him. Unfortunately, Thompson had many issues off the court dealing with drugs and alcohol. Many people still today like to imagine how good he could have been. Dan Issel, a legendary basketball hall of famer, said, “If David played until he couldn’t play any longer, he would be mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan.”
David Thompson could have been one of the best scorers the NBA had ever seen if he played out a full career. He could have won an NBA title or gotten MVP. Unfortunately his NBA career didn’t end out like many hoped or expected.
Today Thompson has finished his sociology degree from NC State and works with younger talented NBA pros helping guide them so they can have the great career he once dreamed about. Though none of the young stars will earn the name “skywalker”, though none of them will ever be able to make the same highlight plays as him, all of them will learn from him and hopefully have great careers that last longer than nine years.
Many of David’s best plays where on the court but his best move was to fix himself up after having an abusive relationship with drugs and help out the people around him.
