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Wild horses couldn’t keep Todd Thompson away from Hoopfest

Videographer Todd Thompson flips through a slideshow of his various orthopedic injuries, mainly his knees, but also a shoulder and, currently, his Achilles tendon while sitting at his desk at Fusion Media. Thompson has played in every Hoopfest tournament, often on recurring injuries, and will try to make one play this year to keep his streak alive. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
Videographer Todd Thompson flips through a slideshow of his various orthopedic injuries, mainly his knees, but also a shoulder and, currently, his Achilles tendon while sitting at his desk at Fusion Media. Thompson has played in every Hoopfest tournament, often on recurring injuries, and will try to make one play this year to keep his streak alive. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Jim Allen jima@spokesman.com

Todd Thompson has played in every Hoopfest, and doesn’t plan to quit now.

His body begs to differ.

They’ve reached a compromise, no easy thing for a 55-year-old weekend warrior from Hillyard with a high motor and chip on his shoulder.

The problem was the chip in Thompson’s heel, which is still on the mend from surgery. His surgeon was explicit: no athletic movement until August.

That left a small opening for Thompson, who on Saturday plans to “get open somehow” for a 3-point shot and keep his name in the Hoopfest record book.

That way, the streak will stay intact, and so will Thompson’s Achilles tendon, which had to be sewn back together.

It was his ninth sports-related injury, which begs the question:

Why?

“I happen to have a strong work ethic and a high pain threshold, so I tend to overdo it,” Thompson said. “I’m my own worst enemy.”

He’s also a big fan of Hoopfest.

“It’s not just a point of pride that I’ve come back so many times, but I like the event and I want to be a part of it,” said Thompson, who produces television commercials out of his downtown Spokane business, Fusion Media Productions.

Thompson was working at KREM when Hoopfest first hit the streets of Spokane in 1990. While helping produce the first public service announcements for the new event, Thompson became hooked.

“I’m thinking to myself, ‘street basketball, that would be one of the coolest things ever,’ ” said Thompson, who played the game at Rogers High School and later at the Warehouse with John Stockton and friends.

And so began Thompson’s Hoopfest story, which reads more like a fractured fairy tale.

It’s a story filled with championship ribbons and the ribbons of scar tissue left by the surgeon’s scalpel; of 3-point shots and shots to the body; of comebacks on and off the court.

“I’m from that generation where all my friends my age went from sport to sport,” said Thompson, who played them all at Rogers. A ski accident at 15 led to his first arthroscopic surgery, which left his knee bone-on-bone ever since.

“That’s one reason I’ve had so many injuries,” Thompson said.

A first-rate athlete, the 6-foot, 190-pound Thompson had a 42-inch jump-reach and could dunk a basketball and spike a volleyball with authority.

He was a fixture at Spike and Dig until an awkward jump left his knee looking like half the front bone had been scooped out.

“The way my teammates looked at me … that’s when you know it’s bad,” Thompson said.

Hoopfest offered even more risk and reward, especially because Thompson often played in two brackets – the media division with KREM and the 6-foot-and-under Open Division.

“Work hard, play hard – that’s definitely me,” said Thompson, who also has battled diabetes for the last dozen years.

Thompson pared his basketball nights to once a week, but the injuries didn’t stop. He’s had three surgeries in the last four years, one for a broken nose and another for a shoulder that was wrenched out of place as Thompson battled for the ball.

The latest injury resulted from a simple jump shot last winter. Thompson collapsed with a torn Achilles, leaving his Hoopfest streak in jeopardy.

That wasn’t all. Surgery isn’t cheap, and Thompson lost work time while recuperating. Undaunted, he was back at work two days after surgery, helping Stockton produce an audio book.

“That’s my foot on John Stockton’s desk,” Thompson said with a smile.

Thompson’s wife Sibylla wasn’t laughing. “She’s been really supportive, but this is the first time she’s really given me the stink-eye, that look of ‘maybe you should do something else,’ ” Thompson said.

As if Thompson is suddenly going to get his basketball fix on Xbox.

Instead, Thompson will be on the streets of Spokane come Saturday. Marveling at the event, he said “I just love the spectacle, walking around and watching the games, the people we know.”

“There’s nothing like it,” Thompson said.