About David Thompson (basketball)
David O'Neil Thompson (born July 13, 1954), commonly known by the nickname "Skywalker", is an American former professional basketball player. He played with the Denver Nuggets of both the American Basketball Association (ABA) and National Basketball Association (NBA), as well as the Seattle SuperSonics of the NBA before drug problems cut short his career. He was previously a star in college for North Carolina State, leading the Wolfpack to its first NCAA championship in 1974. Thompson is one of the eleven players to score 70 or more points in an NBA game. He was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996. Thompson was known for his exceptional leaping ability that enabled him to become one of the game's premier dunkers in the 1970s and earned him the nickname of "Skywalker". Michael Jordan said, "The whole meaning of vertical leap began with David Thompson." Bill Walton described Thompson as "Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James rolled into one". Thompson is a first cousin of Alvin Gentry, both growing up in Shelby, North Carolina. In the championship game they won easily over Marquette 76–64.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.