College career
Anderson attended the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign for three years, playing on the team that reached the 1989 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament, NCAA Final Four in 1989; that Fighting Illini team was given the nickname "''1988–89 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team, Flyin' Illini''" by Dick Vitale. Among Anderson's teammates were Kendall Gill, Stephen Bardo, Kenny Battle, Lowell Hamilton, and Marcus Liberty; all of these except Hamilton would go on to play in the National Basketball Association, NBA.NBA career
Early years
Anderson left school and entered the 1989 NBA draft, NBA draft in 1989, where he was selected with the 11th pick of the first round by the Orlando Magic. 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 (basketball), Dennis Scott in 1990, Shaquille O'Neal in 1992, and Chris Webber, who was traded for a package including Penny Hardaway 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 NBA season, 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 NBA season, 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 (NBA), Eastern Conference, and won their first ever Atlantic Division (NBA), Atlantic Division title.1994–95 postseason
In the Eastern Conference semifinals, the Magic faced the Chicago Bulls and Michael Jordan, 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 1995 NBA Finals, NBA Finals was against the defending champion Houston Rockets, at the Orlando Arena. 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 hit a three-pointer for Houston shortly thereafter, tying the game and sending it to overtime (sports), overtime. 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 NBA season, 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 NBA season, 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 NBA season, 1998–99 season, after which he was traded to the Sacramento Kings. 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 Memphis Grizzlies. Anderson works for the Orlando Magic in the team's community relations department. He also serves as a commentator for Fox Sports Florida during the Magic's pre-game, halftime and post-game shows.Honors
High school
* 1986 – Illinois High School Association, IHSA 1st Team All-State * 1986 – Parade Magazine Parade All-America Boys Basketball Team#1980–1989, 2nd Team All-American * 1986 – 1986 McDonald's All-American Boys Game, McDonald's All-American * 1986 – Illinois Mr. Basketball * 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 Conference, Big Ten * 1988 – Honorable Mention 1988 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All American * 1989 – Illini MVP * 1989 – 1st Team All-Big Ten * 1989 – NCAA All-Regional Team (MOP) * 1989 – Honorable Mention 1989 NCAA Men's Basketball All-Americans, All American * 1989 – First player ever drafted by the Orlando Magic. * 2004 – Elected to the "Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball#All-Century Team, Illini Men's Basketball All-Century Team". * 2008 – Honored as one of the 33 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball#Honored jerseys, honored jerseys which hang in the State Farm Center to show regard for being the most decorated basketball players in the University of Illinois' history. * 2017 – Inducted into the Illinois Athletics Hall of FameCollege statistics
University of Illinois
NBA career statistics
Regular season
, - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;", 1989–90 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1990–91 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1991–92 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1992–93 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1993–94 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1994–95 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1995–96 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1996–97 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1997–98 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1998–99 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 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;", 1999–2000 Sacramento Kings season, 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;", 2000–01 Sacramento Kings season, 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;", 2001–02 Memphis Grizzlies season, Memphis , 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 , , 14.4Playoffs
, - , style="text-align:left;", 1994 NBA Playoffs, 1994 , style="text-align:left;", 1993–94 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 3, , 3, , 40.0, , .382, , .400, , .750, , 3.3, , 3.3, , 1.7, , 0.7, , 14.3 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1995 NBA Playoffs, 1995 , style="text-align:left;", 1994–95 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 21, , 21, , 38.8, , .448, , .383, , .683, , 4.8, , 3.1, , 1.6, , 0.5, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1996 NBA Playoffs, 1996 , style="text-align:left;", 1995–96 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 11, , 11, , 38.0, , .433, , .286, , .622, , 5.0, , 1.9, , 1.9, , 0.5, , 14.2 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1997 NBA Playoffs, 1997 , style="text-align:left;", 1996–97 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 5, , 5, , 26.0, , .333, , .267, , .000, , 5.8, , 0.6, , 0.6, , 1.8, , 5.6 , - , style="text-align:left;", 1999 NBA Playoffs, 1999 , style="text-align:left;", 1998–99 Orlando Magic season, Orlando , 4, , 4, , 38.0, , .367, , .262, , .737, , 6.8, , 2.3, , 2.3, , 0.0, , 20.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", 2000 NBA Playoffs, 2000 , style="text-align:left;", 1999–2000 Sacramento Kings season, 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 , , 13.1References
External links