The rise of David Thompson: From poor family to basketball stardom

"Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and LeBron James each rolled into one," said Bill Walton astir the hoops subordinate who was a existent deed successful his time. However, contempt this, his vocation was not arsenic agelong and superb arsenic that of the top legends. The antheral down that sanction was 1 of the biggest stars of the 1970s and 1980s, the highest-paid hoops subordinate successful the satellite and a subordinate who was admired by Jordan himself.

David O'Neil Thompson, calved connected July 13, 1954 successful Shelby, was the youngest of 11 children. "I'm not ashamed to accidental that I travel from a precise mediocre family," helium said. Basketball was his mode retired of mundane problems; helium played with his brothers connected a makeshift tribunal with bicycle instrumentality hoops. He dunked for the archetypal clip and began performing acrobatics successful the eighth grade. His carnal superiority was unthinkable - a existent occurrence of nature.

David Thompson

He excelled instantly astatine North Carolina State; He finished his archetypal play 27-0 and his 2nd play 30-1. "David Thompson is simply a large champion. He's a fantastic idiosyncratic and a precise peculiar quality being. It was amusive to play against him," Walton said. Thompson was truthful beardown and jumpy that helium entered the Guinness Book of Records with a vertical leap of 112 cm, and the nickname Skywalker was deservedly his.

His nonrecreational commencement was impressive. In his archetypal play with the Denver Nuggets, helium had 26 points per game. But cocaine, which was wide astatine that time, ruined his beingness disconnected the court. "There was astir nary time that I didn't bash it, and I combined it with alcohol," Thompson admitted. The addiction led him to a downward spiral; helium became dissatisfied, sought a alteration of squad and ended up successful Seattle.

He recovered salvation successful religion and family. The Charlotte Hornets offered him a occupation successful nationalist relations, and Thompson devoted himself wholly to a drug-free life. "That touched maine and helped maine crook my beingness around. He was being celebrated connected TV, and I was successful detention and going done a hard situation. That gave maine the information to hole my life," helium said. Today, astatine 71, helium helps others arsenic a motivational talker and looks backmost connected his vocation with pride.