Billy Thompson (basketball)

William (Billy) Stansbury Thompson (born December 1, 1963 in Camden, New Jersey) is a retired American professional basketball player who played in the NBA and other leagues. He spent a 5-year career with the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat, and registered one minute of court time with the Golden State Warriors in 1991.

Thompson played competitive basketball at Camden High School.

Thompson, a 6' 7" small forward from the University of Louisville, where in his senior season he was part of the Cardinals squad that won the 1986 NCAA Championship. He was selected 19th overall in the 1986 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks but was part of a draft-day trade sending him to the Los Angeles Lakers, where he was a reserve member of the Lakers teams that won back-to-back NBA Championships in 1986-87 and 1987-88. He was then left unprotected in the 1988 NBA expansion draft and was selected by the Miami Heat, where he was a starter for the Heat's inuagural game and averaged 10.8 points per game in Miami's expansion season. As a part-time starter in 1989-90, Thompson averaged 11 points per game. He also appeared in the 1990 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where he finished 7th out of 8 participants.

Following his NBA career Thompson went to play in Turkey for Fenerbahçe 1994. He then played in Israel for Hapoel Jerusalem B.C. between 1994-97. Along with Israeli star Adi Gordon Thompson led Hapoel to two State Cup titles.

Having won an NCAA championship his final year with Louisville in 1986 and an NBA title with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1987, Thompson is one of only four players in basketball history to win an NCAA championship and an NBA Championship in consecutive years, the others being Bill Russell (University of San Francisco 1956, Boston Celtics 1957), Henry Bibby (UCLA 1972, New York Knicks 1973) and Earvin Johnson (Michigan State 1979, Los Angeles Lakers 1980).