Michael Jordan’s Hall of Fame Presenter
[Guest post by DRJ]
Michael Jordan, the icon of North Carolina basketball, has picked former North Carolina State basketball player David Thompson as his presenter for Friday’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame:
“[Jordan] chose David Thompson. The former NBA high-flyer who had starred at North Carolina … State.
“I got a call from the Hall of Fame and they asked me if I was willing to be a presenter for someone,” Thompson recently told Yahoo! Sports. “I said, ‘Yeah.’ I didn’t know who it was. … They said Michael Jordan. I was like, ‘Wow.’ He told them that he was a big fan of mine and I was the one that really inspired him. Being that there was so many North Carolina people he could’ve chose, I was honored.”
Thompson, nicknamed Skywalker, has been described as “Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan” because of his 48-inch vertical leap and acrobatic dunks.
— DRJ
Anybody who has seen the tape (or was actually there) of the 1976 ABA Slam-Dunk finals competition between DRJ (uh, I mean Julius Erving) and Thompson knows that the “Michael Jordan before Michael Jordan” description is not an exaggeration.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (784fd8) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:23 pmI grew up in Colorado as a Denver Nuggets fan back when they had Thompson, Dan Issel, George McGuinness, and Bobby Jones. You had to have seen David Thompson play to truly understand how great he was — there was no SportsCenter every night in those days or YouTube to memorialize his greatness. Unfortunately, injuries and cocaine shortened his career. One of the best places to go to see how great David Thompson was is to watch highlights of North Carolina State’s upset of UCLA in the 1974 NCAA Tournament. There is one sequence where 6’4″ Thompson blocks a shot by 7′ Bill Walton. It is absolutely amazing.
Kudos to Jordan for honoring his fellow North Carolinian.
JVW (d1215a) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:27 pmMichael Jordan has always been a class act. It is so sad that he lost his father the way he did.
Mike K (d016a9) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:32 pmAgreed, JVW. The ABA is like a great unknown continent because there were no 10-second highlights to tease you every night, so many people never got to see many of the great players in that league in their primes, like Thompson.
As for the N.C. State-UCLA upset, that was huge. UCLA went in there not having lost an NCAA tournament game in eight years. Thompson was one of the key factors–and the biggest–to making it happen.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (784fd8) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:38 pmThe only problem I have with Jordan is that he’s taking the Bill Russell path in front office work: as bad an executive as he was good a player.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (784fd8) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:44 pmYet another reason why he is my second-favorite all time athlete.
JD (07af0d) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:56 pmOnly second-favorite? He might be first since you know pronstars aren’t really considered athletes, right? 😉
Stashiu3 (ed6467) — 9/7/2009 @ 12:59 pmI remember seeing Thompson watching college ball. definitely “Jordan before Jordan”, or, as Jordan says, the player that inspired Jordan to play the way he did. Can’t say I remember ever seeing an ABA game.
Another person whose athleticism I thought was close, Clyde the Glide Drexler. I remember seeing him in college dunk it from the free throw line. The really amazing thing was that it looked like it hardly took him any effort.
MD in Philly (d4f9fa) — 9/7/2009 @ 1:13 pmDavid Thompson was my team’s Coach at B-ball Camp in 1972 during the Agnes Hurricane. Thompson and his teammates (Towe, Spence et al) entertained us the whole week because no b-ball could be played in the rain, except on the one main court. David made pocket change by taking quarters off the top of the backboard all week. He could do it without a running start. We watched the same movie (Triple Cross) every night because no supplies could be brought in. It was truly a great week.
dfbaskwill (2c7f7f) — 9/7/2009 @ 1:33 pmFor those who never watched the ABA, there’s a great book out called “Loose Balls” that recalls the great players and teams from that short – lived league. Included are interviews with some of the great coaches from that era as well, such as Larry Brown. Bob Costas also got his start in sports broadcasting during the ABA’s heyday, if memory serves.
Dmac (a93b13) — 9/7/2009 @ 1:46 pmI think Michael Jordan is the best basketball player of all time and he has every right to pick the presenter who is most meaningful to him. It makes sense that he would pick David Thompson, the player who inspired him. In addition, based on what I’ve seen and read, Michael Jordan has been loyal to Dean Smith and his alma mater. Nevertheless, I think this will cause hurt feelings for Dean Smith and North Carolina fans.
DRJ (3f5471) — 9/7/2009 @ 2:42 pmWho else bought ankle weights?
harkin (c1e01f) — 9/7/2009 @ 2:48 pmSo JD, who is your favorite athlete, Juice Williams?
BT (78b929) — 9/7/2009 @ 3:56 pm“Loose Balls”
Written by Terry Pluto, it covers the spectacular and the flat-out bizzare stories of the ABA. Steve Jones is like a recurring character–seems like he knew everything about everything. And Bob Costas was indeed there, getting his start: his first broadcast job was for the Spirits of St. Louis, arguably the wildest team in the history of organized basketball. Great read.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (784fd8) — 9/7/2009 @ 4:56 pmI’m old enough to have gone to a few ABA games. That was back in the days that the player could be in the forecourt while his hair was still in the backcourt. Luckily, got to see Dr. J in one game in San Diego against the Conquistadors.
I would nominate Dr. J for serious consideration as the pre-Jordan Jordan. I remember vividly sitting in Larry Blum’s living room in Seal Beach watching the 1971 ABA-NBA all star game. We fell out our chairs when Dr. J took off from behind the free throw and threw down a dunk. But then we had been throwing down a few vodkas he had chilled in his freezer, and getting back in the chairs was definitely not a slam dunk.
political agnostic (0d86b9) — 9/7/2009 @ 8:42 pmStashiu – Good one. Actually, I like Tiger better, but the margin of difference is so miniscule so as to render it insignificant. Jordan and Tiger are remarkably similar in the ability to shatter boundaries, and single-handedly placing their sport on their backs.
BT – Not funny.
JD (e3dc5c) — 9/7/2009 @ 8:53 pmYes, Dr. J.
I love the video from above when he takes the baseline and floats by Kareem and tosses the ball up and in.
MD in Philly (d4f9fa) — 9/7/2009 @ 9:00 pmAnd not surprisingly, you don’t hear Michael or Tiger shilling their being black…. which explains why they are so damn rich.
HeavenSent (01a566) — 9/7/2009 @ 9:26 pmFrom the wikipedia page on the Spirits of St. Louis:
The NBA placated John Y. Brown, owner of the Kentucky Colonels, by giving him a $3.3 million settlement in exchange for shutting his team down. (Brown later used much of that money to buy the Buffalo Braves of the NBA.) But the owners of the Spirits, the brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, struck a prescient deal to acquire future television money from the teams that joined the NBA, a one-seventh share from each franchise, in perpetuity. With network TV deals becoming more and more lucrative, the deal has made the Silnas wealthy, earning them $168 million as of July 2006, according to a Los Angeles Times report. (The NBA nearly succeeded in buying out the Silnas in 1982 by offering $5 million over eight years, but negotiations floundered when the siblings demanded $8 million over five.) The current TV deal gives the Silnas $14.57 million a season; on June 27, 2007, it was extended for another eight years, ensuring another $100 million-plus windfall for the former Spirits owners.
Nearly $15 million a year, and they don’t have to lift a finger. Kudos to these guys for outfoxing the NBA.
Another Chris (f29ad3) — 9/8/2009 @ 10:09 pmI will forever respect Jordan for picking David Thompson to present him. I was fortunate enough to have seen him play and he will always be my favorite. He was so humble. Thanks Mike.
bc in nc (2a4339) — 9/12/2009 @ 2:58 am