Darius Thompson

Thompson was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and is the son of Lonnie Thompson, who played basketball for Middle Tennessee State, and Felicia Thompson.^[1]

Playing for Blackman High School, Thompson was a 2013 McDonald's All-American Game nominee and was ranked the no. 4 best combo guard in the country by 247Sports.com. In his senior year with Blackman, he averaged 16.4 points and 6.4 assists.^[1]

In August 2017, Thompson signed a one-year contract with ZZ Leiden of the Dutch Basketball League (DBL) and FIBA Europe Cup.^[2] On October 27, 2017, Thompson scored 32 points in a 73–78 win over Den Helder Suns.^[3] On November 7, Thompson led Leiden to a win over Sakarya BB in the FIBA Europe Cup by scoring 36 points.^[4] On March 31, Thompson won the NBB Cup with Leiden, after scoring 25 points in the final.^[5] On April 24, 2019, Thompson won the DBL Most Valuable Player award.^[6]

On July 23, 2019, Thompson signed a one-year contract with an option for a second season with Happy Casa Brindisi of the Italian Lega Basket Serie A (LBA) and Basketball Champions League (BCL).^[7]

On July 1, 2021, Thompson left Brindisi after two years and signed in the VTB United League for the Russian team Lokomotiv Kuban.^[8] He left the team after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.^[9] However he said that participation in this team was pleasant.

On August 12, 2022, Thompson signed a two-year (1+1) contract with Baskonia of the Spanish Liga ACB and the EuroLeague.^[10]

Thompson had a breakout season in 2022–23 with Baskonia. He led the EuroLeague in assists per game (averaging 6.7 per game) and was named to the All-EuroLeague Second Team.^[11] Thompson was also voted the Best Newcomer by the EuroLeague Players' Association (ELPA).^[12]

On July 7, 2023, Thompson parted ways with the Spanish club.

On July 7, 2023, Thompson signed a three-year (2+1) contract with Turkish powerhouse Anadolu Efes, where he replaced star point guard Vasilije Micić who left the club for the Oklahoma City Thunder.^[13]

In July 2025, Thompson signed a three-year deal with Spanish club Valencia Basket. Thompson was still under contract with Anadolu Efes for the 2025–26 season, but both parties finalized a buyout agreement.^[14]

Thompson has been recruited by the Italy national team, as he is eligible for an Italian passport because of his Italian wife, Chiara Pacifico.^[15] He played for the Italian National team during Eurobasket 2025.