Eric Walfred Anderson (May 26, 1970 – December 9, 2018) was an American

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 played

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

Indiana Hoosiers The Indiana Hoosiers are the intercollegiate sports teams and players of Indiana University Bloomington, named after the colloquial term for people from the state of Indiana. The Hoosiers participate in NCAA Division I, Division I of the Nationa ...

and played two seasons in the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA) for the

New York Knicks The New York Knickerbockers, shortened and more commonly referred to as the New York Knicks, are an American professional basketball team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The Knicks compete in the National Basketball Associat ...

Amateur career

Anderson attended St. Francis de Sales High School on Chicago's far southeast side and was named 1988's Mr. Basketball for the state of Illinois as well as a

McDonald's All-American McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger ...

in the same year. He appears in one scene in the documentary ''

Hoop Dreams ''Hoop Dreams'' is a 1994 American documentary film directed by Steve James, and produced by Frederick Marx, James, and Peter Gilbert, with Kartemquin Films. It follows the story of two African-American high school students, William Gates an ...

''. Anderson then enrolled at Indiana University Bloomington, where he played for the Hoosiers while studying

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of Empirical ...

. He was named Most Outstanding Player of 1992 NCAA Tournament's West Regional after helping lead Indiana to the Final Four. He completed his college career with 1,715 points and 825 rebounds.

Professional career

Anderson signed with the

for the

1992–93 NBA season Year 199 ( CXCIX) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was sometimes known as year 952 '' Ab urbe condita''. The denomination 199 for this year has been used since the ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

. As the team's twelfth man, he played only 44 total minutes in sixteen games, and 39 minutes in eleven games the following season before being waived. He received a loud ovation by fans when inserted in the final six minutes of the Knicks' 114–79 home blowout over the

Boston Celtics The Boston Celtics ( ) are an American professional basketball team based in Boston. The Celtics compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. Founded in 1946 as one of t ...

on February 2, 1994, in which he went scoreless with four personal fouls while the Knicks bench later stood and cheered his drawing an offensive foul. Anderson held NBA career averages of 1.6 points and 1.1 rebounds, and 2-for-2 on

three-point field goal A three-point field goal (also 3-pointer, three, or trey) is a field goal in a basketball game made from beyond the three-point line, a designated arc surrounding the basket. A successful attempt is worth three points, in contrast to the two poi ...

s. He spent the remainder of his career playing in Europe and with the

Fort Wayne Fury The Fort Wayne Fury was a professional basketball team in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1991 through the cessation of the CBA on February 8, 2001. History The team played at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne ...

of the

Continental Basketball Association The Continental Basketball Association (CBA) (originally known as the Eastern Pennsylvania Basketball League, and later as the Eastern Professional Basketball League and the Eastern Basketball Association) was a men's professional basketball m ...

until retiring in 1998.

Personal life

Anderson was married to fitness guru

Tracy Anderson Tracy Anderson (born March 3, 1975) is an American fitness entrepreneur and author. She is best known for her ''Tracy Anderson Method'' and for having various celebrity clients. Early life and career The daughter of dance instructor Diana Ephlin ...

from 1998 to 2008 and had a son named Sam.

Death

Anderson died on December 9, 2018, in

Carmel, Indiana Carmel is a suburban city in Indiana immediately north of Indianapolis. With a population of 100,777, the city spans across Clay Township in Hamilton County, Indiana, and is bordered by the White River to the east; the Hamilton-Boone county ...

. An autopsy was conducted, and preliminary findings suggested that he died of natural causes.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Eric 1970 births 2018 deaths American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago BC Andorra players American expatriate basketball people in Andorra Fabriano Basket players Fort Wayne Fury players Galatasaray S.K. (men's basketball) players Indiana Hoosiers men's basketball players Liga ACB players McDonald's High School All-Americans New York Knicks players Pallacanestro Varese players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Undrafted National Basketball Association players Universiade medalists in basketball Universiade gold medalists for the United States