Kenny Anderson

Point guard
Born	October 9, 1970 (1970-10-09) (age 39) Queens, New York
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Listed weight	168 lb (76 kg)
High school	Archbishop Molloy
College	Georgia Tech
Draft	2nd overall, 1991 New Jersey Nets
Pro career	1991–2006
Former teams	New Jersey Nets (1991–1996) Charlotte/New Orleans Hornets (1996, 2003) Portland Trail Blazers (1996–1998) Boston Celtics (1998–2002) Seattle SuperSonics (2002–2003) Indiana Pacers (2003–2004) Atlanta Hawks (2004–2005) Los Angeles Clippers (2005) BC Žalgiris (2005–2006)
Awards	1993-94 NBA All-Star

Kenneth "Kenny" Anderson (born October 9, 1970) is an American former basketball player. After an extraordinary college career at Georgia Institute of Technology, he went on to play point guard for more than a decade in the National Basketball Association.

He most recently has been hosting various basketball skills camps for youths, as well as helping prepare college players hoping to be selected in the NBA Draft. Anderson is currently Head Coach of The Hombres, one of six teams in the extreme sports league Slamball.

[edit] Early life

As a 16-year-old high school sophomore, the LeFrak City, Queens^[1] native who attended academic and athletic powerhouse Archbishop Molloy High School in Briarwood, was considered one of the best basketball prospects in America.^[2] Anderson was considered so special in his childhood that there were recruiters at his sixth-grade games and he was on the front page of the New York City sports section when he was 14.^[3] By the end of his high school career, he was a three-time Parade All-American, a feat not accomplished since Lew Alcindor and the first player to be named All-City four times. In addition, he was a McDonald's All-American, Gatorade's high school Player of the Year and Player of the Year by the New York State Sportswriters Association, and was named Mr. Basketball by the New York State Coaches Organization. He was also named Parade, Naismith, and USA Today player of the year.^[4] Despite his coach, Jack Curran, benching him for the first quarter of all of his games during his freshman year at Molloy, Anderson set the all-time state record for scoring in New York, with 2,621 points. This record stood until 2004, when Lincoln High School guard Sebastian Telfair eclipsed the mark late in his senior season.

[edit] On to Georgia Tech

After a long recruiting process, the hotly pursued Anderson signed a letter of intent in November 1988 to play at Georgia Tech, selecting the upstart Yellow Jackets over national powers North Carolina, Duke and Syracuse.^[5]

Becoming the team's starting point guard almost immediately, Anderson played two years for Georgia Tech, helping lead his team to the Final Four in 1990 along with swingmen Dennis Scott and Brian Oliver, who were nicknamed "Lethal Weapon 3." It was Anderson's controversial shot at the end of regulation during the Round of 16 that forced overtime versus favored Michigan State, with the Yellow Jackets pulling away. Georgia Tech's tournament run ended versus eventual champion UNLV in the Final Four.

With Scott and Oliver gone after that season, Anderson was left to carry a young Georgia Tech team on his back, averaging nearly 26 points a game, but the team could only secure a #8 seed for the NCAA Tournament, losing in the second round to Ohio State. Soon after, Anderson announced that he would forgo his last two years of eligibility to enter the NBA Draft.

He played for the US national team in the 1990 FIBA World Championship, winning the bronze medal.^[6]

During an interview early in his career, Stephon Marbury stated Kenny Anderson as a major influence on attending Georgia Tech. Marbury was a fan of Anderson's growing up.

[edit] NBA

Anderson was selected by the New Jersey Nets with the second pick in the 1991 NBA Draft. He was the youngest player in the league at that time. He failed to make an impact during his rookie campaign in 1991-92, averaging only seven points, two rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. However, in Anderson's second season he broke out, more than doubling his point, rebound and assist averages. In his third season, he averaged 18.8 ppg and 9.6 apg. Anderson and his Nets' teammate, Derrick Coleman, both represented the East squad in the 1994 NBA All-Star Game. He played solidly (albeit with a tendency to be injury-prone) for the next 3½ seasons before being traded to the Charlotte Hornets in 1996.

Throughout his career Anderson has played for the Hornets (including both Charlotte and New Orleans franchises), Portland Trail Blazers, Boston Celtics, Seattle SuperSonics and the Indiana Pacers, and split a season for the Atlanta Hawks and Los Angeles Clippers.

In 1998, Portland traded Anderson to the Toronto Raptors for Damon Stoudamire, but he refused to report to the Raptors because he did not want to play in Canada. Without playing a single game for them, Anderson forced the Raptors' hand and they traded him to the Celtics for Chauncey Billups.

Anderson was released from Lithuania's Zalgiris Kaunas after the 2005-06 season.

[edit] Personal life

Anderson is the son of Joan, and has two sisters: Sandra and Danielle.^[7]

From 1994-2001 he was married to The Real World: Los Angeles cast member Tami Akbar Anderson (now known as Tami Roman ^[8]). Akbar filed for divorce in Christmas 1998 citing Anderson's infidelity. She successfully challenged the 1995 $5.8 million pre-nup. As a result of the divorce Tami acquired a sizeable portion of his assets (reported to be half) in addition to $8500 monthly child support. Tami had a license plate custom-made to mark her victory with the phrase "HISCASH".^[9]

Anderson has seven children, including two sons born the same year named Kenneth Jr.

He has daughter Danielle (1990) with an ex girlfriend; as well as daughter Christenese (born 1992) from his relationship with DJ Spinderella of band Salt 'N Pepa ^[10] With first wife Tami he has daughters Lyric Chanel(1995), and Kenni Lauren (1996) ^[11].

With second wife Tamiyka Lockhart he has the first son named Ken Jr ^[12].

His second son named Ken Jr (1998) and son Devin (2001) are from his decade long relationship with Sunny Castro.

[edit] After the NBA

Noted on The Jim Rome Show Anderson was named as the new coach of the CBA's Atlanta Krunk.^[13] The team is owned by Freedom Williams of C+C Music Factory.

In 2008, Anderson made a TV appearance on Pros vs Joes.

In September 2008, he was inducted into the New York City Basketball Hall of Fame along with NBA stars Sam Perkins and Rod Strickland, coach Pete Gillen and pioneers Lou Bender and Eddie Younger.^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• NBA.com biography
• Kenny Anderson Statistics at Basketball-Reference.com