Jason Thompson (basketball) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Jason Thompson
No. 34, 1, 2
Thompson with Fenerbahçe in 2017
Center / power forward
Personal information
Born	(1986-07-21) July 21, 1986 (age 37) Mount Laurel, New Jersey
Nationality	American
High school	Lenape (Medford, New Jersey)
Listed height	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)
Listed weight	250 lb (113 kg)
Career information
College	Rider (2004–2008)
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 1 / Pick: 12th overall
Selected by the Sacramento Kings
Pro career	2008–2022
Career history
2008–2015	Sacramento Kings
2015–2016	Golden State Warriors
2016	Toronto Raptors
2016–2017	Shandong Golden Stars
2017–2018	Fenerbahçe Doğuş
2018–2019	Sichuan Blue Whales
2020–2021	Casademont Zaragoza
2021	Shanghai Sharks
2021	Guangdong Southern Tigers
2022	Wisconsin Herd

Career highlights and awards
CBA rebounding leader (2019) Turkish President's Cup winner (2017) MAAC Player of the Year (2008) Haggerty Award (2008) 2× First-team All-MAAC (2007, 2008) Second-team All-MAAC (2006) No. 1 retired by Rider Broncs

Jason Carlton Thompson (born July 21, 1986) is a former American professional basketball player. He was a starting center playing college basketball for the Rider Broncs from 2004 to 2008, and was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Sacramento Kings. He holds the record for most games played with the Kings during their tenure in Sacramento.

College career

A native of Mount Laurel, New Jersey, Thompson led Lenape High School to the 2004 New Jersey Group IV state title.

Thompson went on to play four seasons of college basketball for the Rider Broncs men's basketball from 2004 to 2008, where he was one of three players in the NCAA in 2006–07 to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The other two were Kevin Durant of Texas and Nick Fazekas of Nevada.

As a senior during the 2007–08 season, Thompson averaged 20.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 2.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game. His strongest performance came on March 9, 2008 when he recorded 32 points and 18 rebounds against Marist College. He led Rider to the 2008 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament finale against Siena College a day later. Rider fell short in a 74–53 loss in which Thompson registered 22 points and 12 rebounds. Rider finished the regular season and conference tournament schedule with a strong 23–10 record, but still missed an at-large bid to the NIT. However, Rider did receive a bid to the inaugural College Basketball Invitational tournament in 2008. Rider lost its first-round game to the Old Dominion Monarchs 68–65; Thompson finished with 15 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks. He concluded his collegiate career as the all-time leading rebounder in Broncs history.

Professional career

Sacramento Kings (2008–2015)

Thompson was selected with the 12th overall pick by the Sacramento Kings in the 2008 NBA draft. On July 8, 2008, he signed his rookie scale contract with the Kings. As a rookie in 2008–09, he played all 82 games for the Kings while averaging 11.1 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.

On October 25, 2009, the Kings exercised their third-year team option on Thompson's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2010–11 season. He went on to have a career-best season as he averaged 12.5 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.

On October 25, 2010, the Kings exercised their fourth-year team option on Thompson's rookie scale contract, extending the contract through the 2011–12 season.

On June 25, 2012, the Kings tendered a qualifying offer to make Thompson a restricted free agent. On July 12, 2012, he re-signed with the Kings to a multi-year deal.

Golden State Warriors (2015–2016)

On July 10, 2015, Thompson was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers along with Carl Landry, Nik Stauskas, a future first-round pick, and the rights to swap first-round picks in 2016 and 2017, in exchange for the rights to Artūras Gudaitis and Luka Mitrović. On July 31, the 76ers traded Thompson to the Golden State Warriors in exchange for Gerald Wallace, cash and draft considerations. On February 22, 2016, he was waived by the Warriors. He appeared in just 28 games for the Warriors, and managed just 6.4 minutes per game.

Toronto Raptors (2016)

On March 1, 2016, Thompson signed with the Toronto Raptors. He appeared in 19 games for the Raptors to conclude the 2015–16 regular season, and was part of the Raptors' post-season run that saw them reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. In his first season playing in the post-season, Thompson played a minor role off the bench, managing just 5.5 minutes per game over 10 appearances.

Shandong Golden Stars (2016–2017)

In August 2016, Thompson signed with the Shandong Golden Stars for the 2016–17 CBA season.

In the summer of 2017, Thompson competed in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for the Rebel Riders; a team composed of Rider University basketball alum. In their first-round matchup, Thompson scored 14 points and grabbed a game-high 18 rebounds in the Rebel Riders' 78–70 loss to Team Fancy.

Fenerbahçe (2017–2018)

On July 29, 2017, Thompson signed with the Turkish club Fenerbahçe for the 2017–18 season. In 2017–18 EuroLeague, Fenerbahçe made it to the 2018 EuroLeague Final Four, its fourth consecutive Final Four appearance. Eventually, they lost to Real Madrid with 80–85 in the final game. Over 36 EuroLeague games, he averaged 5 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. On July 10, 2018, Fenerbahçe and Thompson parted ways.

Sichuan Blue Whales (2018–2019)

On August 11, 2018, Thompson signed a deal with Sichuan Blue Whales in the Chinese Basketball Association.

Casademont Zaragoza (2020–2021)

On February 1, 2020, Thompson signed with Casademont Zaragoza of the Liga ACB. He averaged 8.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per game between ACB and BCL. Thompson re-signed with the team on August 4.

Shanghai Sharks (2021)

On February 9, 2021, Thompson signed with Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association.

Guangdong Southern Tigers (2021)

On April 4, 2021, Thompson signed with Guangdong Southern Tigers.

Wisconsin Herd (2022)

On January 7, 2022, Thompson was acquired via available player pool by the Wisconsin Herd.

Retirement

On October 3, 2022, Thompson announced his retirement from professional basketball.

Career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

NBA

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	Sacramento	82*	56	28.1	.497	.000	.692	7.4	1.1	.6	.7	11.1
2009–10	Sacramento	75	58	31.4	.472	.100	.715	8.5	1.7	.5	1.0	12.5
2010–11	Sacramento	75	39	23.3	.507	.000	.605	6.1	1.2	.4	.6	8.8
2011–12	Sacramento	64	47	25.9	.535	.000	.602	6.9	1.2	.7	.7	9.1
2012–13	Sacramento	82*	81	27.9	.502	.000	.694	6.7	1.0	.6	.7	10.9
2013–14	Sacramento	82	61	24.5	.506	.000	.579	6.4	.6	.4	.7	7.1
2014–15	Sacramento	81	63	24.6	.470	.000	.622	6.5	1.0	.4	.7	6.1
2015–16	Golden State	28	1	6.4	.476	.000	.625	1.9	.7	.1	.3	2.1
2015–16	Toronto	19	6	15.4	.485	.333	.818	4.2	.5	.4	.6	4.6
Career		588	412	25.2	.496	.143	.657	6.6	1.1	.5	.7	8.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2016	Toronto	10	0	5.5	.444	.000	.000	1.1	.1	.0	.1	.8
Career		10	0	5.5	.444	.000	.000	1.1	.1	.0	.1	.8

EuroLeague

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG	PIR
2017–18	Fenerbahçe	36	18	16.0	.533	.000	.618	3.9	.8	.1	.6	5.0	6.1
Career		36	18	16.0	.533	.000	.618	3.9	.8	.1	.6	5.0	6.1

Personal life

Thompson's younger brother, Ryan, also played college basketball for Rider University and went on to play professionally in Europe.

Jason Thompson (basketball) facts for kids

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