Nelison "Nick" Anderson (born January 20, 1968) is an American former 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 who played for the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The franchise was establ ...

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 ...

, and

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

of 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). Born in

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, Illinois, Anderson played high school basketball at

Simeon Career Academy Neal F. Simeon Career Academy (formerly known as Westcott Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Vocational High School, Neal F. Simeon Career Technical Academy), locally known simply as Simeon, is a public four-year vocational high school locate ...

where he was named "

Illinois Mr. Basketball The Illinois Mr. Basketball award is given to the person chosen as the best high school boys basketball player in the U.S. state of Illinois. Most of the award winners have gone on to play at the highest levels of college basketball, and many have ...

" for 1986 after leading his team to the city championship and a top national ranking in ''USA Today''. Anderson would go on to play at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

for two years. He was then drafted by the

in the

1989 NBA draft The 1989 NBA draft took place on June 27, 1989, in New York City. Despite eight of the top ten picks being considered busts, including the first two picks Pervis Ellison and Danny Ferry, the draft produced many talented players such as Shawn K ...

. He currently serves the Magic in several off-the-court functions and was elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team" in 2004.

College career

Anderson attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for three years, playing on the team that reached the NCAA Final Four in 1989; that

Fighting Illini The Illinois Fighting Illini () are the intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The university offers 10 men's and 11 women's varsity sports. The University operates a number of athletic faci ...

team was given the nickname "'' Flyin' Illini''" by

Dick Vitale Richard John Vitale (; born June 9, 1939), also known as "Dickie V", is an American basketball sportscaster. A former head coach in the college and professional ranks, he is well known for his 41-year tenure as a college basketball broadcaster fo ...

. Among Anderson's teammates were

Kendall Gill Kendall Cedric Gill (born May 25, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player who now works as a television basketball analyst. Early life Gill was born in Chicago and attended Rich Central High School in Olympia Fields, Illinois. ...

, Stephen Bardo,

Kenny Battle Kenneth R. Battle (born October 10, 1964) is an American former professional basketball player. High school career In 1984, Battle led Aurora West High School to third place in the Illinois High School Association Class AA state basketball tourn ...

Lowell Hamilton Lowell Hamilton (born May 3, 1966) is an American former basketball player. High school Hamilton was a dominant high school basketball player at Chicago's Providence St. Mel, where he led the Knights to four consecutive IHSA boys' sectional ch ...

, and

Marcus Liberty Marcus Liberty (born October 27, 1968) is an American former professional basketball player. He played four seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). Liberty played college basketball for the University of Illinois. High school After ...

; all of these except Hamilton would go on to play in the

NBA 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 St ...

NBA career

Early years

Anderson left school and entered the NBA draft in 1989, where he was selected with the 11th pick of the first round by the

. As the Magic were an expansion team that season, Anderson was the first draft pick in the franchise's history. Like most expansion franchises, the Magic were a young team and Anderson was one of its few bright spots. As a result, the Magic were awarded high draft picks in several consecutive years, including Dennis Scott in 1990,

Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal ( ; born March 6, 1972), known commonly as "Shaq" ( ), is an American former professional basketball player who is a sports analyst on the television program ''Inside the NBA''. O'Neal is regarded as one of the greates ...

in 1992, and

Chris Webber Mayce Edward Christopher Webber III (born March 1, 1973) is an American former professional basketball player. Drafted number one overall by the Orlando Magic, though arguably best known and remembered as the star forward for the Sacramento King ...

, who was traded for a package including

Penny Hardaway Anfernee Deon "Penny" Hardaway (born July 18, 1971) is an American college basketball coach and former professional player who is the head coach of the Memphis Tigers men's basketball team in the American Athletic Conference (AAC). Hardaway pla ...

in 1993. In his first few seasons, Anderson was the Magic's top scoring option, and led the team in points per game during the 1991–92 season. As the team's talent level increased, Anderson was gradually relegated to a lesser offensive role but remained a consistent member of the team's starting lineup. Exceptions include the April 23, 1993, game at New Jersey, in which he scored a career-high 50 points off the bench. In 1994–95, Anderson led Orlando in three-pointers with 179, and averaged 15.9 points per game. The Magic won 57 games, finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference, and won their first ever Atlantic Division title.

1994–95 postseason

In the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Magic faced the

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

and

Michael Jordan Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...

, who had recently returned from an aborted baseball career wearing the number 45 instead of his famous number 23. At the end of Game One, Anderson famously stripped Jordan from behind, leading to the game-winning basket for the Magic. He later commented that Jordan "didn't look like the old Michael Jordan" and that "No. 45 doesn't explode like No. 23 used to." Jordan then returned to wearing his old number in the next game, scoring 38 points in a Bulls win. Game One of the

NBA Finals The NBA Finals is the annual championship series of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Eastern and Western Conference champions play a best-of-seven game series to determine the league champion. The team that wins the series is awa ...

was against the defending champion

Houston Rockets The Houston Rockets are an American professional basketball team based in Houston. The Rockets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member team of the league's Western Conference Southwest Division. The team plays its ho ...

, at the

Orlando Arena Amway Arena (originally known as Orlando Arena and later TD Waterhouse Centre) was an indoor arena located in Orlando, Florida. It was part of the Orlando Centroplex, a sports and entertainment complex located in Downtown Orlando. The arena was ...

. With the Magic up by three points late in the game, Anderson, typically a 70% free throw shooter, missed four consecutive free throws that could have sealed the victory for Orlando.

Kenny Smith Kenneth Smith (born March 8, 1965), nicknamed "the Jet", is an American sports commentator and former professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played in the NBA from 1987 to 1997 as a member of the Sacrame ...

hit a three-pointer for Houston shortly thereafter, tying the game and sending it to

overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...

. The Rockets went on to win the game in overtime and eventually swept the Magic, winning their second consecutive NBA Championship. As a result of this incident, some Orlando fans began to label Anderson with the derogatory nicknames of "Nick the Brick" and "Brick Anderson".

Post-1995 career

He showed no immediate effect from his struggles in the 1995 finals, as he had another strong season in 1995–96. However, his season ended due to a wrist injury in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Finals. Since then, Anderson's career took an abrupt downward spiral, largely due to a sudden inability to shoot free throws. During the 1996–97 season, Anderson's free throw shooting percentage tumbled to a career-low 40.4% and his scoring average to 12.0 points per game. Anderson had to be removed from the closing minutes of several close games due to being an unreliable free throw shooter. His struggles worsened through the first half of the 1997–98 season. Through January 27 of that season, Anderson was averaging only 6.5 points per game, and shooting a paltry 36.3% from the free throw line. However, in the second half of the season, Anderson experienced a sudden career revival, as his scoring average abruptly jumped to 22.6 points per game, and his free throw percentage improved to a 67.6%, a figure close to his former career average. He ended the season with a scoring average of 15.3 points per game. Anderson would play on with the Magic through the lockout-shortened 1998–99 season, after which he was traded to the

. He left Orlando as the team's career scoring leader. He was the last player remaining from the Magic's original expansion roster, having remained with the franchise for ten seasons. He played two seasons in Sacramento, averaging a career-low at that point, 10.8 points per contest in 72 games his first season. He played 21 games the next season, and 15 games in his final season, in which he played for the

. Anderson works for the Orlando Magic in the team's community relations department. He also serves as a commentator for

Fox Sports Florida Bally Sports Florida is an American regional sports network owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts local sports coverage in the state of Florida, with a focus on professional sport ...

during the Magic's pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.

Honors

High school

* 1986 – IHSA 1st Team All-State * 1986 –

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

2nd Team All-American * 1986 –

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 ...

* 1986 –

* 2013 – Inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association's Hall of Fame as a player.

College

* 1988 – Illini Co-MVP * 1988 – 2nd Team All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

* 1988 – Honorable Mention All American * 1989 – Illini MVP * 1989 – 1st Team All-Big Ten * 1989 – NCAA All-Regional Team (MOP) * 1989 – Honorable Mention All American * 1989 – First player ever drafted by the

. * 2004 – Elected to the " Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team". * 2008 – Honored as one of the 33 honored jerseys which hang in the

State Farm Center The State Farm Center is a large dome-shaped 15,544-seat indoor arena located in Champaign, Illinois, owned and operated by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The arena hosts games for the Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball, ...

to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history. * 2017 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame

College statistics

University of Illinois

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Orlando Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...

, 81 , , 9 , , 22.0 , , .494 , , .059 , , .705 , , 3.9 , , 1.5 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 11.5 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 70 , , 42 , , 28.2 , , .467 , , .293 , , .668 , , 5.5 , , 1.5 , , 1.1 , , 0.6 , , 14.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 60 , , 59 , , 36.7 , , .463 , , .353 , , .667 , , 6.4 , , 2.7 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 79 , , 76 , , 37.0 , , .449 , , .353 , , .741 , , 6.0 , , 3.4 , , 1.6 , , 0.7 , , 19.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 81 , , 81 , , 34.7 , , .478 , , .322 , , .672 , , 5.9 , , 3.6 , , 1.7 , , 0.4 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 76 , , 76 , , 34.1 , , .476 , , .415 , , .704 , , 4.4 , , 4.1 , , 1.6 , , 0.3 , , 15.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 77 , , 77 , , 35.3 , , .442 , , .391 , , .692 , , 5.4 , , 3.6 , , 1.6 , , 0.6 , , 14.7 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 63 , , 61 , , 34.3 , , .397 , , .353 , , .404 , , 4.8 , , 2.9 , , 1.9 , , 0.5 , , 12.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 58 , , 44 , , 29.3 , , .455 , , .360 , , .638 , , 5.1 , , 2.1 , , 1.2 , , 0.4 , , 15.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

, 47 , , 39 , , 33.6 , , .395 , , .347 , , .611 , , 5.9 , , 1.9 , , 1.4 , , 0.3 , , 14.9 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 72 , , 72 , , 29.1 , , .391 , , .332 , , .487 , , 4.7 , , 1.7 , , 1.3 , , 0.2 , , 10.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 21 , , 0 , , 8.0 , , .246 , , .256 , , – , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 1.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

Memphis Memphis most commonly refers to: * Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt * Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city Memphis may also refer to: Places United States * Memphis, Alabama * Memphis, Florida * Memphis, Indiana * Memp ...

, 15 , , 0 , , 14.6 , , .276 , , .271 , , .556 , , 2.2 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 4.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 800 , , 636 , , 31.2 , , .446 , , .356 , , .667 , , 5.1 , , 2.6 , , 1.4 , , 0.5 , , 14.4

Playoffs

, - , style="text-align:left;",

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 3, , 3, , 40.0, , .382, , .400, , .750, , 3.3, , 3.3, , 1.7, , 0.7, , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 21, , 21, , 38.8, , .448, , .383, , .683, , 4.8, , 3.1, , 1.6, , 0.5, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 11, , 11, , 38.0, , .433, , .286, , .622, , 5.0, , 1.9, , 1.9, , 0.5, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 5, , 5, , 26.0, , .333, , .267, , .000, , 5.8, , 0.6, , 0.6, , 1.8, , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;",

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

, style="text-align:left;",

, 4, , 4, , 38.0, , .367, , .262, , .737, , 6.8, , 2.3, , 2.3, , 0.0, , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:left;",

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

, 5, , 5, , 26.4, , .324, , .350, , .875, , 3.4, , 0.4, , 0.2, , 0.6, , 7.2 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 49 , , 49 , , 36.0 , , .413 , , .333 , , .678 , , 4.9 , , 2.2 , , 1.5 , , 0.6 , , 13.1

References

External links

Historical player file

NBA.com profile

Nick Anderson's official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Nick 1968 births Living people African-American basketball players American men's basketball players Basketball players from Chicago Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball players McDonald's High School All-Americans Memphis Grizzlies players Orlando Magic draft picks Orlando Magic players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) Sacramento Kings players Shooting guards 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American sportspeople