Nick Anderson: Orlando's Hoops Ambassador

By Adam Hirshfield, FanAwards.com

Former Magic guard Nick Anderson is now a member of the franchise's community relations staff. (Fernando Medina/NBAE/Getty Images)

When Magic fans reminisce about the team's early days in Orlando, memories of Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway and a run to the NBA Finals in 1995 are likely to return with a flood of excitement.

But ask those same fans who the all-time Magic scoring leader is and their memories are likely to blur. The answer is neither Shaq nor Penny. Dwight Howard? Nope, it's not him, either. (Not yet, at least.)

No, the holder of the Magic's scoring record is none other than the franchise's first ever draft pick back in 1989, a 6'6" shooting guard out of Illinois by the name of Nick Anderson.

And though Anderson originally hails from the South Side of Chicago, he was with the Magic from the beginning, remained with the team for 10 seasons and lives in the area now with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

The Magic of the mid-'90s were an exciting squad, and Anderson recalls fondly his time with his two All-Star teammates.

"Those were two big-name superstars who were here early in their careers. It was like traveling with a rock band. We got a lot of notoriety. Shaq has been a superstar from day 1. And Penny Hardaway came up real fast and took everybody by surprise with what he could do. It was really something to be a part of. It was a great ride."

Anderson was traded to Sacramento following the 1998-99 season. He spent two years with the Kings before suiting up for the Memphis Grizzlies in 15 games his final season.

But in his retirement from basketball, Anderson has returned to Central Florida and has become, quite literally, an ambassador to basketball in the Orlando area.

Anderson, now 41, is currently the Orlando Magic's "Community Ambassador." "I'm at every home game," he says, "and I come out there to give as much support as I possibly can."

But Anderson's involvement with the team doesn't stop there. His work in the community relations department has him attending local events as a team representative, he gives speeches to local companies and generally does his best to promote good will in the community that has embraced him from the get-go.

"They have a lot of love for me," says Anderson. It seems appropriate for this 2006 inductee into the Central Florida Sports Hall of Fame Committee. But the Magic fan favorite makes it clear that the love goes both ways.

"The team provides a lot for this community," he says, "and does a great job of reaching out to the people in it. And when I say (Magic owner Rich DeVos) supports the community in a big way, I mean BIG."

Anderson says he's helped build playgrounds, been a guest coach at countless youth basketball clinics and distributed food to needy families. "And when we do things like that," he continues, "it's not like it's just a small group of people. It's everybody. If you're an employee of the Orlando Magic, you are there. There's no exception to the rule. No one says, 'Hey, I can't make it.' Yes, you will. That feeling starts at the top and it comes through everywhere."

Anderson was the inaugural winner of the Rich and Helen DeVos Community Enrichment Award in 1996 and his desire to stay involved at the community level is far from surprising given his admittedly "tough" upbringing in the Windy City.

RISING OUT OF THE THUG LIFE

Despite being a star on the basketball court for Simeon High School – "I was a McDonald's All-American and Parade All-American and I got recruited by probably every school in the country" – there were temptations and negative influences aplenty for a teenage boy on the streets of Chicago.

"My two older brothers were involved in gangs and drugs and that scene when they were coming up," Anderson says, "so I had to deal with a lot of that. And the gangs in Chicago… they were serious. There were places in our neighborhood you just couldn’t go. There were certain colors you just couldn't wear. It was a mess."

And the gang lifestyle reared its ugly head in a devastatingly personal fashion for Anderson.

The night before Simeon's season opener in 1984, 6'9" star forward Benjamin Wilson, widely considered the top high school player in the country at the time, was shot and killed after an innocuous quarrel with a gang member right down the street from the school.

Despite the tragic loss of Wilson, Simeon, led by then-junior Anderson, went 28-0 that season before losing in the state championship game.

But the tributes didn't end there. Wilson's No. 25 was retired at Simeon for several seasons before it became customary over the next decade to hand it out annually to the team's brightest star. Derrick Rose, the first overall pick by the hometown Chicago Bulls in the 2008 NBA Draft, wore No. 25 during his time at Simeon.

After a stellar senior season, Anderson headed off to the University of Illinois.

"We had always said to each other that we were going to the same school," Anderson says of Wilson. "And I think Ben was headed to Illinois. Tragically he lost his life, but I kept up that promise of going (with him) to Illinois.

As a member of the Illini, Anderson, too, donned No. 25, the number he wore throughout his professional career, to pay tribute to his fallen friend.

"This guy meant so much to us not only as a basketball player but also as a person. He was a model citizen and the kind of guy that every parent wanted their kid to be like. So I honored my friend over the course of my whole entire career."

Anderson still credits his parents, coaches and teachers with showing him the way as an impressionable teen growing up in a rough neighborhood.

"They just wanted the best for me," he says, "For me to go to school and get an education. And I wanted to make my mom proud of me. So I steered myself in other directions. I went to school and played basketball and chose not to hang out in that culture of gangs and drugs and trouble."

But it's all about taking responsibility for your actions and taking control of the path you follow in life.

"We had a saying in high school," says Anderson. "A teacher, a coach, family members, whoever… they can all give you advice on doing the right thing, but we used to say, 'If it is to be, it's up to me.'

"It's up to these young men and women to determine how they live their lives. They have the final say-so.

"Lots of kids in sports today aren't doing it the right way," Anderson suggests. "They're messing their careers up before they even get started. They're not even giving themselves a chance.

"I left school early for a variety of reasons including to help my parents… but I look at this kid at Florida State, Myron Rolle, a Rhodes scholar, and it brought tears to my eyes, because here's a young man who gets it.

"All the draft experts say he's a second-round pick (in the upcoming NFL Draft), but he says, 'I'm going to Oxford. Football will be there when I get back.' That brought a smile to my face. Even though he loves football, his education is more important. I tip my cap to a young guy like that."

It's clear that Anderson gets it, too. And through his hard work, he found success in basketball and made it out of the gang-infested existence into which he was born. But he regularly acknowledges his friends, like Ben Wilson, who didn't make it out of Chicago's South Side.

"During my time (as a player) in Orlando," Anderson recalls, "I had a routine. Every game day on my way to the arena, I drove through the hood... because that's where I come from. I made it my business to remind myself of that. I can't forget about where I come from."

CONTINUING TO MAKE MAGIC

Anderson may miss playing the game he loves, but still gets a kick out of watching the current Magic players, especially young superstar Dwight Howard.

"He's really a treat to watch, especially for his size. You just don’t see people that size who can do what he does. He's athletic, he can jump to the moon, he can run the floor – he beats guards down the floor – and he's a shot-blocker. He's just an amazing physical specimen.

"But his attitude is great, too. If we had more young men in this league whose attitudes approached those of people like Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade… you know, practicing hard all the time, always wanting to get better… this league would be amazing!

"Their work ethic and attitude is so sound and it shows. Dwight wants to learn. He wants to listen. He'll lend you his ear and say 'I want you to help me get better.' And we need more of that."

Seeing the support the city of Orlando has shown for the current Magic team, Anderson is reminded of his heyday in the black, blue, silver and white. He fondly recalls the 1995 run to the Finals, where coach Brian Hill's group of youngsters eliminated the Celtics in the last ever game at the old Boston Garden. He has vivid memories of his game-winning steal from newly unretired Michael Jordan to win Game 1 over the Bulls in the next round and of besting the Pacers in a tough, seven-game Eastern Conference Finals series.

"It was a great ride," says Anderson.

"And it was amazing how exciting it was here in Orlando for all of the fans and how involved everyone was. The place was sold out all the time. You couldn't get a ticket to a game. That's something I will always remember."

Anderson sees signs that the local excitement is returning in support of the current squad.

"The fans are getting back into it. The team had a drought there when all of us from that Finals team went our separate ways. And the fans kind of drifted away. But now I can see all of that coming back. The youth in the area are into basketball again and come to support the team on a nightly basis. That's a good thing.

"Sports are a big part of the culture all over Florida and there are the fans here to prove it. And I think the support is only going to get bigger over the next few years."

As for Anderson?

"I'm just… around… you know? I'm not on the basketball side of things, but I still consider myself a part of this team."

And as the Magic community continues to demand appearances from old No. 25, it's clear that the fans in Orlando feel much the same way.