50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
34. David Thompson
Denver Nuggets 1976-82, Seattle SuperSonics 1982-84
David Thompson was the first overall pick in the NBA Draft in 1975, taken by the Atlanta Hawks out of NC State, but he opted instead to sign with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA.
Nicknamed “Skywalker” (before there was such a thing as Star Wars), Thompson brought an impressive resume to the pros—he as a two-time Associated Press Player of the Year in college, the 1975 Naismith Award winner and the Most Outstanding Player of the 1974 Final Four, when he led the Wolfpack to their first national title.
The hits continued as an ABA Rookie, as Thompson was not just an All-Star, but he was the last All-Star Game MVP in the league’s history, as well as its final Rookie of the Year and a second-team All-NBA selection.
In the NBA, Thompson’s deepest playoff run came with the Nuggets in 1978. After a first-round bye, Denver got past the Milwaukee Bucks in seven games to get out of the second round, but fell in six games to the Seattle SuperSonics in the Western Conference Finals.
But Thompson was selected for four All-Star games, three with Denver (1977-79) and one with the SuperSonics (1983). He was the All-Star Game MVP in 1979.
He was a two-time All-NBA first team selection, the season he was involved with the greatest scoring race in NBA history.
Thompson torched the Detroit Pistons for 73 points on the final day of the regular season to take the lead in the race, with George Gervin needing 58 points against the New Orleans Jazz that night to pass him.
Gervin got 63 and won the closest scoring race in history.
Thompson finished third in the MVP voting in 1977-78, and four times was in the top 10 on the scoring list.
He was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1996.
The final tally on Thompson’s NBA playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-0
Conference Finals: 0-1
Conference Semifinals: 1-1
First Round: 0-3
Next: 33. Big Shoes Fell Short