Willie Anderson (basketball)

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Willie Anderson
Personal information
Born (1967-01-08) January 8, 1967 (age 57)
Greenville, South Carolina, U.S.
Listed height6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Listed weight190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
High schoolEast Atlanta (Atlanta, Georgia)
CollegeGeorgia (1984–1988)
NBA draft1988: 1st round, 10th overall pick
Selected by the San Antonio Spurs
Playing career1988–1998
PositionSmall forward
Number40, 35
Career history
19881995San Antonio Spurs
1995–1996Toronto Raptors
1996New York Knicks
1996Olympiacos
1997Miami Heat
1997–1998AEK Athens
1998Maccabi Tel Aviv
Career highlights and awards
Career NBA statistics
Points6,771 (12.2 ppg)
Rebounds2,082 (3.8 rpg)
Assists2,105 (3.8 apg)
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com
Medals
Men's basketball
Representing  United States
Pan American Games
Silver medal – second place 1987 Indianapolis Team competition
Olympic Games
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Seoul Team competition
Anderson wore #40[1] for nearly his entire career, including his seven-season run with the Spurs.

Willie Lloyd Anderson Jr. (born January 8, 1967)[2] is an American former professional basketball player. During his professional career, Anderson played nine seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) and three seasons in the EuroLeague. He was named to the 1988–89 NBA season's All-Rookie First Team. While he was a member of the Greek Basket League club AEK Athens, he played in the 1998 EuroLeague Final. Anderson won an Olympic bronze medal as a member of the United States national team in 1988.

College career[edit]

After playing high school basketball at East Atlanta High, Anderson played college basketball at the University of Georgia, with the Georgia Bulldogs, from 1984 to 1988. In his junior season, Anderson averaged 15.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 5.0 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.6 blocks per game, in 30 games played. During his senior season, Anderson averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.9 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game, in 35 games played, and he was named to the SEC's All-Conference Team.

Professional career[edit]

After attending and playing college basketball at the University of Georgia, Anderson was selected by the San Antonio Spurs, with the 10th overall pick of the 1988 NBA draft. Anderson was selected to the 1989 NBA All-Rookie Team. During the 1990 NBA Playoffs, Anderson averaged playoff-career-highs of 20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game respectively.[3] The Spurs advanced past the Denver Nuggets in the first round, before losing to the eventual Western Conference champion Portland Trail Blazers, in a hard-fought seven game playoff series.[4]

Anderson played for the Spurs until the 1994–95 season. He spent 1995–96 season with the Toronto Raptors, after he was selected in the 1995 expansion draft. He also played with the New York Knicks that season. Anderson spent the 1996–97 season playing in Greece, where he played with the Greek Basket League club Olympiacos Piraeus, and with the NBA's Miami Heat.

He moved to the Greek club AEK Athens, for the 1997–98 season. He helped AEK make it to the EuroLeague's 1998 Final, which they lost to the Italian League club Virtus Bologna, by a score of 58–44. Anderson signed with the Israeli Super League club Maccabi Tel Aviv, for the 1998–99 season. However, he was waived by the club at the beginning of the season. After signing with the club, he declared that season would be his last season in professional basketball, and after he was waived by the club, he did in fact retire from playing pro club basketball.

National team career[edit]

Anderson won a silver medal with Team USA at the 1987 Pan American Games. He also won a bronze medal at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

Personal life[edit]

Anderson is the older brother of former NBA player Shandon Anderson, and the father of former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Lady Mocs player Alex Anderson.[5]

NBA career statistics[edit]

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1988–89 San Antonio 81 79 33.8 .498 .190 .775 5.1 4.6 1.9 0.8 18.6
1989–90 San Antonio 82 81 34.0 .492 .269 .748 4.5 4.4 1.4 0.7 15.7
1990–91 San Antonio 75 75 34.6 .457 .200 .798 4.7 4.8 1.1 0.8 14.4
1991–92 San Antonio 57 55 33.1 .455 .232 .775 5.3 5.3 0.9 0.9 13.1
1992–93 San Antonio 38 7 14.7 .430 .125 .786 1.5 2.1 0.4 0.2 4.8
1993–94 San Antonio 80 79 31.1 .471 .324 .848 3.0 4.3 0.9 0.6 11.9
1994–95 San Antonio 38 11 14.6 .469 .158 .732 1.4 1.4 0.7 0.3 4.9
1995–96 Toronto 49 42 31.9 .440 .305 .856 3.8 3.0 1.2 1.0 12.4
1995–96 New York 27 2 18.4 .421 .200 .613 2.2 1.8 0.6 0.3 5.0
1996–97 Miami 28 1 10.8 .453 .421 .850 1.5 1.2 0.5 0.1 3.0
Career 555 432 28.8 .471 .266 .786 3.8 3.8 1.1 0.6 12.2

Playoffs[edit]

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1990 San Antonio 10 10 37.5 .518 .400 .806 5.4 5.2 0.9 0.4 20.5
1991 San Antonio 4 4 39.8 .485 .200 .615 4.3 4.8 1.5 0.5 19.0
1993 San Antonio 10 0 21.9 .451 .545 .882 2.3 2.8 0.9 0.2 9.5
1994 San Antonio 4 4 26.5 .378 1.000 .571 2.0 3.0 1.3 0.5 8.3
1995 San Antonio 11 0 8.8 .450 .000 .667 1.1 0.9 0.5 0.0 1.8
1996 New York 4 0 16.0 .318 .167 .857 2.3 0.3 1.0 0.0 5.3
1997 Miami 9 0 13.3 .367 .250 .900 1.9 0.6 0.4 0.2 3.7
Career 52 18 21.9 .464 .333 .785 2.7 2.4 0.8 0.2 9.3

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Willie Anderson Statistics". Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved May 2, 2009.
  2. ^ "Willie Anderson". National Basketball Association. Retrieved January 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Willie Anderson Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Draft Status and more". Basketball-Reference.com.
  4. ^ 1990 NBA Western Conference Semifinals Spurs vs. Trail Blazers
  5. ^ "Alex Anderson - 2007-08 - Women's Basketball". University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Athletics.

External links[edit]