Jason Carlton Thompson (born July 21, 1986) is a former American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. He was a starting

center Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

playing

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for the

Rider Broncs The Rider Broncs are the athletic teams of Rider University, a private nonsectarian university in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, United States. The school is a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and its athletes ...

from 2004 to 2008, and was drafted in the first round of the 2008 NBA draft by the

Sacramento Kings The Sacramento Kings are an American professional basketball team based in Sacramento, California. The Kings compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Conference Pacific Division. The Kings are the oldest ...

. 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 Mount Laurel is a township in Burlington County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a suburb of Philadelphia and part of the South Jersey region. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 41,864, reflecting an increase of 1 ...

, Thompson led

Lenape High School Lenape High School is a four-year comprehensive public high school located in Medford Township in Burlington County, New Jersey, United States. It is the oldest of the four high schools that comprise the Lenape Regional High School District, ...

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 : ''For information on all Rider University sports, see Rider Broncs'' The Rider Broncs men's basketball team is the basketball team that represents Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey, United States. The school's team currently compete ...

from 2004 to 2008, where he was one of three players in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

in 2006–07 to average 20 points and 10 rebounds per game. The other two were

Kevin Durant Kevin Wayne Durant ( ; born September 29, 1988), also known by his initials KD, is an American professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played one season of college basketball for t ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

and

Nick Fazekas Nicholas Ryan Fazekas (born June 17, 1985) is an American-born Japanese professional basketball player for the Kawasaki Brave Thunders of the B.League in Japan. Early career Fazekas attended Ralston Valley High School in Arvada, Colorado where he ...

Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...

. 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 Marist College is a private university in Poughkeepsie, New York. Founded in 1905, Marist was formed by the Marist Brothers, a Catholic religious institute, to prepare brothers for their vocations as educators. In 2003, it became a secular in ...

. He led Rider to the 2008

Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference The Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC, ) is a collegiate athletic conference affiliated with NCAA Division I. Of its current 11 full members, 10 are located in three states of the northeastern United States: Connecticut, New Jersey, and N ...

Tournament finale against

Siena College Siena College is an American private Franciscan college in Loudonville, New York. Siena was founded by the Order of Friars Minor in 1937. The college was named after Bernardino of Siena, a 15th-century Italian Franciscan friar and preacher. St ...

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 The College Basketball Invitational (CBI) is a men's college basketball tournament created in 2007 by The Gazelle Group. The inaugural tournament occurred after the conclusion of the 2007–08 men's college basketball regular season. The CBI s ...

tournament in 2008. Rider lost its first-round game to the

Old Dominion Monarchs The Old Dominion Monarchs are composed of 18 intercollegiate athletic teams representing Old Dominion University, located in Norfolk, Virginia. Men's sports include baseball, basketball, football, golf, sailing, soccer, swimming, and tennis. Wo ...

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

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 The Philadelphia 76ers, colloquially known as the Sixers, are an American professional basketball team based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The 76ers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eas ...

along with

Carl Landry Carl Christopher Landry (born September 19, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player. The , all-conference power forward played college basketball for the Purdue Boilermakers from 2004 to 2007. He is the older brother of Marcus L ...

Nik Stauskas Nikolas Tomas Stauskas (born October 7, 1993) is a Canadian professional basketball player who last played for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A shooting guard, Stauskas played two seasons of college basketball f ...

, 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 Luka Mitrović ( sr-cyrl, Лука Митровић; born 21 March 1993) is a Serbian professional basketball player for Crvena zvezda of the Adriatic League and the EuroLeague. Standing at , he mainly plays at the power forward position. Mitrovi ...

. On July 31, the 76ers traded Thompson to the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

in exchange for

Gerald Wallace Gerald Jermaine Wallace (born July 23, 1982) is an American former professional basketball player. Nicknamed "Crash", he was named an NBA All-Star and voted to the NBA All-Defensive First Team while with the Charlotte Bobcats in 2010. He played ...

, 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 The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

. 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 Shandong Hi-Speed Kirin () is a Chinese professional basketball team based in Jinan, Shandong, which plays in the Northern Division of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). Some home games are held in the nearby city of Linyi. The Hi-Speed Gr ...

for the 2016–17 CBA season. In the summer of 2017, Thompson competed in

The Basketball Tournament The Basketball Tournament (TBT) is an open-application, single-elimination tournament played each summer in the United States. The 2022 edition features 64 teams with a $1 million winner-take-all prize, broadcast by ESPN. TBT was founded in 201 ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

for the Rebel Riders; a team composed of

Rider University Rider University is a private university in Lawrence Township, New Jersey. It consists of four academic units: the Norm Brodsky College of Business, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the College of Education and Human Services, and West ...

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 Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

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 The Sichuan Jinqiang Blue Whales (sometimes spelled Whale) (四川金强蓝鲸), also known as Sichuan Jinqiang or Sichuan Jinrong Industry, are a professional basketball team based in Wenjiang District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China, which plays in th ...

in the

Chinese Basketball Association The Chinese Basketball Association (), often abbreviated as the CBA, is the first-tier professional men's basketball league in China. The league is commonly known by fans as the CBA, and this acronym is even used in Chinese on a regular basis ...

Casademont Zaragoza (2020–2021)

On February 1, 2020, Thompson signed with

Casademont Zaragoza Basket Zaragoza 2002 S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Basket Zaragoza and as Casademont Zaragoza for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball club based in Zaragoza, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB. Their home arena is th ...

of the

Liga ACB The Liga ACB, known as Liga Endesa for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional basketball division of the Spanish basketball league system. Administrated by the Asociación de Clubs de Baloncesto (ACB), Liga ACB is contested by 18 teams, wi ...

. 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 The Shanghai Sharks () are a Chinese Basketball Association team based in Shanghai. It is best known outside China as the club that developed Yao Ming before he entered the National Basketball Association. With Yao on the team, the Sharks made ...

of the

Guangdong Southern Tigers (2021)

On April 4, 2021, Thompson signed with

Guangdong Southern Tigers Guangdong Hongyuan Southern Tigers () or Guangdong Southern Tigers, also known as Guangdong Dongguan Bank () for sponsorship reasons, are a Chinese professional basketball team owned by the Guangdong Winnerway (Hongyuan) Group. The team is one o ...

Wisconsin Herd (2022)

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

Wisconsin Herd The Wisconsin Herd are an American professional basketball team in the NBA G League based in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and are affiliated with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Herd play their home games at Oshkosh Arena. History On June 29, 2016, it was anno ...

Retirement

On October 3, 2022, Thompson announced his retirement from

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

Career statistics