Greatest unsung hero in every NBA team’s history

Orlando Magic: Nick Anderson

Nick Anderson was a good basketball player. Unfortunately, many fans will still associate him with one fateful moment on the league’s biggest stage.

The Orlando Magic took Anderson with the 11th overall pick in the 1989 NBA Draft. For the first few seasons, he had to shoulder much of the offensive responsibilities for an expansion team that was trying to find its footing. This all changed when Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway came to town.

As those two high draft picks reached superstardom, Anderson took a lesser role, but still filled up the stat sheets at a reasonable rate. He averaged 15.4 points per game during his tenure with the Magic.

Aside from his steady play, most NBA fans know Anderson for two reasons. He essentially forced Michael Jordan to switch back to No. 23 following a clutch steal, leading to a Game 1 win for Orlando in their second-round matchup with the Chicago Bulls. The other is his performance during the late stages of Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals against the defending champion Houston Rockets.

Orlando held a three-point lead late in that game. Anderson had four free throw attempts that would’ve iced the game for the Magic. He missed all four of them. This led to a Kenny Smith game-tying three to send the game to overtime, where the Rockets prevailed. Houston went on to sweep the Magic to repeat as NBA champions.

The moment stuck with Anderson. Fans began calling him “Nick the Brick” and “Brick Anderson”. This certainly didn’t help, as he struggled to regain his touch from the charity stripe for the rest of his NBA career.