The 'High' Flyers: 5 NBA careers destroyed by drugs & alcohol

#1 David Thompson

David Thompson inducts Michael Jordan into the Basketball Hall of Fame

The picture above says a lot about David Thompson. He was Michael Jordan's role model and Jordan specifically asked David Thompson to induct him into the Basketball Hall of Fame.

In the 1975 draft, David Thompson was selected first overall by both the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA and the Virginia Squires of the American Basketball Association (ABA). He eventually signed with the Denver Nuggets in the ABA.

He was the finalist along with Julius Erving for the first ever Slam-Dunk Competition, held during the 1976 ABA All-Star Game. After the NBA-ABA merger, Thompson continued to be a dominant player in the league and made four All-Star teams. He also made the All-NBA First Team on two occasions. He is also one of the six players to have scored more than 70 points in a game.

At the end of the 1978 season, Thompson signed a (then) richest contract in NBA history with the Nuggets, paying him $4 million over five years. However, from that point on he succumbed to a world of alcohol and drug usage.

The final blow came on a fateful night at the notorious New York City club, Studio 54, where he was pushed down a staircase under the influence of drugs and alcohol. He severely injured his knee in the fall and could never really recover. His own words about the incident sum up his career and this post perfectly: "I had the ability to be one of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game and I blew it."