David O'Neil Thompson (born July 13, 1954), commonly known by the nickname "Skywalker", is an American former professional basketball player.

"[1] Bill Walton described Thompson as "Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady, and LeBron James rolled into one".

Thompson and teammate Tommy Burleson led the #1-ranked Wolfpack to a 103–100 win in overtime, in a game played with no shot clock and no three point field goal.

Thompson is considered one of the greatest players in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference, among such talents as Michael Jordan, Ralph Sampson, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner and Tyler Hansbrough.

[4] In 1975, playing his final home game at NC State against UNC-Charlotte, late in the second half Thompson on a breakaway received a long pass from a teammate, resulting in the first and only dunk of his collegiate career,[5] a goal that was promptly disallowed by a technical foul.

[citation needed] That season, the Nuggets finished 60–24, and beat the Kentucky Colonels in a hard-fought seven-game series to advance to the 1976 ABA Finals.

When Alvan Adams accepted the 1976 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, he thanked David Thompson for choosing to play in the ABA.

Thompson experienced somewhat of a career revival during his first year in Seattle, making the 1982–83 All-Star game after averaging 15.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 3 assists, which were comparatively low totals when contrasted with the stats from his prime in Denver.

[11] During that year's playoffs, in his last postseason appearance, Thompson averaged just 12 points in a two-game series loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.

Following his release, the Sonics resigned him for the remaining nineteen games of the 1983–84 season, in which he averaged a career low of 12.6 points before an off-court 1984 knee injury forced him into retirement.

[15] His career-ending 1984 knee injury resulted from him being shoved down a stairwell during a fight at Studio 54,[13] and later factored into his failed 1985 tryout with the Indiana Pacers, after which he was arrested that night for public intoxication.

Thompson worked with the Charlotte Hornets' community-relations department in 1990,[16] and, at age 37, played in the Legends Classic during the 1992 NBA All-Star Weekend, but he was one of two participants (with Norm Nixon) who were taken off the court on stretchers with serious leg injuries.