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Catching Up With....
David Thompson, Hall of Famer: November 26, 1973
Posted: Tuesday December 08, 1998 10:34 AM
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John G. Hanlon |
David Thompson first appeared on our cover in 1973 as a shy kid from rural North
Carolina with an astounding vertical leap and the potential to dethrone college
basketball's reigning power. He was then the star junior forward for North
Carolina State—the team with the best chance of preventing UCLA from
winning an eighth consecutive national
title.
The Wolfpack pulled off the feat in a thrilling double-overtime,
come-from-behind victory against the Bill Walton-led Bruins in the '74 NCAA
semifinals. "Though I played a lot of years in the NBA, I never had the
opportunity to win a championship there," says Thompson, 44. "Beating
UCLA is my Number 1 highlight in sports. We beat Marquette in the finals, but
nobody seems to remember
that."
Certainly memorable was Thompson's remarkable nine-year pro career in Denver and
Seattle. In the 1977-78 season he and San Antonio's George Gervin engaged in the
NBA's tightest and most famous scoring-title battle. On the final day of the
season, against Detroit, Thompson scored 73 points, but it wasn't good enough to
beat Gervin, who, knowing he had to score 58 to win, came through with 63
against the New Orleans Jazz later that
night.
Jim Gund | |
Thompson's career came to an end in 1984, when he fell down a flight of stairs
at New York's Studio 54, destroying his left knee. From there, he fell
deeper into the cocaine and alcohol addictions he had developed in the previous
few years. In 1986 he filed for bankruptcy and served 180 days in jail for
violating probation on a domestic-abuse charge. It was in jail that he dedicated
himself to Christianity and stopped using drugs and
alcohol.
After his release Thompson, who says he has been clean and sober for more than a
decade, worked as a community relations director for the Charlotte Hornets.
These days, when he's not traveling the country as a motivational speaker, he's
running clinics for the Junior Hornets basketball program. The 1996 Hall of Fame
inductee lives in Charlotte with Cathy, his wife of 20 years, and their two
daughters, Erika, 19, and Brooke,
17.
"They've been a joy in my life," says Thompson of his children.
"I wanted to work things out partly for my sake, but it was mostly for my
kids. I think my influence on them in the past 10 years has been real
positive."
—Bev Oden
Issue date: December 7, 1998
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