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NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history

By Josh Cornelissen

25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport
25 Jun 1997: Center Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs speaks with a reporter during the NBA Draft at the Charlotte Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mandatory Credit: Craig Jones /Allsport /
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David Thompson
David Thompson. Photo by Mark Junge/Getty Images /

NBA Draft: 30 greatest No. 1 overall picks in league history: 21. David Thompson

In 1977, a sci-fi film called “Star Wars” swept the nation, with its ground-breaking special effects and emotionally evocative symphony score. The protagonist of the film was a young boy named “Luke Skywalker.” While people of all ages watched one Skywalker on the big screen, basketball fans watched another Skywalker float through the air on an NBA court.

David Thompson was a generational athlete, and he showed it by scoring on all comers in college at NC State, leading the Wolfpack to a 57-1 record his first two seasons. Not only did Thompson and NC State win the championship in 1974, they did so by playing (and winning) in two of the best college basketball games of all time, a 103-100 overtime win over Maryland and a double-overtime victory over the UCLA Bruins.

In 1975, Thompson was selected with the first overall pick by the Atlanta Hawks, but he was also drafted and recruited by the rival American Basketball Association (ABA) just a year before the NBA-ABA merger. He signed with the Denver Nuggets and immediately began dunking basketballs and scoring points. He averaged 26, 25.9 and 27.2 points per game his first three seasons, earning All-Star nods in each and twice more during his career.

Thompson was an offensive powerhouse in both the ABA and the NBA, and came within a whisker of the scoring title in 1977-78, passing George Gervin on the final night of the season by dropping 73, only for Gervin to score 63 and take the title that same night. For his career, he averaged 23.4 points per game in the playoffs over 40 games, and his career mark of 22.7 points per game ranks 30th all-time. Skywalker was a sight to behold, even if he did it with a basketball and not a lightsaber.