Education
Nicknamed "Tank", Thompson finished his career at Texas as the school"s all-time leader in rebounds with 1,027, despite the fact he played only three years.
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Nicknamed "Tank", Thompson finished his career at Texas as the school"s all-time leader in rebounds with 1,027, despite the fact he played only three years.
The 6"10", 245-pound Thompson spent time at both the center and power forward positions during his playing career. He later served as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Bobcats, during head coach Larry Brown"s tenure. The record would stand for 21 years until it was broken by James Thomas in 2004.
Thompson was drafted by the Kings with the fifth overall pick in the 1982 National Basketball Association Draft, making him the highest Texas player taken until LaMarcus Aldridge was selected second overall in 2006.
In 1989-1990, he averaging 13.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game while spending a half-season in Sacramento and the other half in Indiana. A regular starter for most of the first part of his career, in 1992-1993 Thompson moved to a role as the tough-nosed veteran off the bench, as Rik Smits and Dale Davis started every game in which they played.
Thompson was a key reserve on the first Pacers team to reach the Eastern Conference Finals series, in 1993-1994. After the 1994-1995 season, Thompson signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, playing there for a year before going to the Denver Nuggets.
He ended his career with nine more games in a Pacers uniform, following the trade-deadline deal that also brought Mark Jackson back to Indiana.
Thompson served a stint as general manager and head coach of the San Diego Wildfire in the American Basketball Association in the 2000-2001 season, which would be the only season of the Wildfire"s existence. Currently, he is co-owner of Prime Time Motors, an automobile sales firm in California. On May 30, 2008, Thompson accepted an offer from Larry Brown and the Charlotte Bobcats to become an assistant coach.