Anderson Gallery | New Anderson Player Profile

Alan Anderson started and finished the season as a reserve guard for the Bobcats, but what happened for nearly four months in the midst of the 82-game grind will be the lasting impression Anderson takes from his second professional season.

The epiphany occurred somewhere between Tulsa and Sioux Falls.

Regulated to life as a basketball vagabond in the NBA’s D-League, Anderson had ample time to contemplate his basketball worthiness during that miserable 13-hour charter bus ride in early January.

Prior to the departure, his Tulsa 66ers – formerly the Asheville Altitude – suffered a nine-point loss to the Sioux Falls Skyforce in front of a sparse 1,243-person crowd.

It was Tulsa’s second straight defeat and even though Anderson scored 22 points, he wasn’t prepared for the perspective he soon received hundreds of miles from the luxurious locker room in which he dwelled for the first month of the season.

“When he first came, as I call it, he had a little NBA hangover,” said Tulsa Head Coach Joey Meyer, who also coached 13 seasons at DePaul University. “It’s hard…It’s a culture shock coming down here to the D-League.”

An ice storm froze all incoming flights into Joe Foss Field Airport so both teams boarded separate buses and endured a lengthy cramped ride. When the teams finally arrived, the wind chill was –15 degrees Fahrenheit.

So can be life in the D-League.

For Anderson, his 81-day stint allowed for profound introspection. And through all of the four-hour layovers, the second-year Bobcats guard wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Being down in the D-League, it’s a different atmosphere,” Anderson said.” It was a blessing in disguise.”

Anderson who went undrafted in 2005 after four years under Michigan State Head Coach Tom Izzo, spent his rookie season traveling in style, beaming from city to city on the Bobcats corporate jet. He contributed 5.8 points in 15.8 minutes, made 38 appearances and even started seven games. He was relevant.

But Charlotte General Manager & then-Head Coach Bernie Bickerstaff became frustrated with the 6-6 guard’s inability to stay healthy. Anderson missed the first four games with back spasms, and after a nine-point outing on November 10, failed to score more than three points in his next six appearances.

After that, Anderson’s back spasms again flared up, forcing him back to the injury list and out of four more games in late November. Bickerstaff adored Anderson’s defensive tenacity and slashing abilities, but coveted a veteran influence that could calm his youthful squad in late-game situations.

Derek Anderson’s imminent free agent acquisition dictated that a roster spot needed to be vacated and Bickerstaff selected Alan Anderson as the unlucky victim, waiving him on November 27.

“It’s a humbling experience,” Anderson who was acquired by the 66ers nearly a month later, said. “As sad and hurt as I was to get waived, it was like ‘what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.’ It makes you that much more humble because (playing in the NBA) isn’t promised.”

Anderson quickly surmised that in order to make an NBA roster again, he needed to succeed in his fresh, albeit remote, surroundings.

“You could see him grow,” Meyer said. “His conditioning was getting better. He was accepting where he was at and his confidence, timing and everything was coming back.”

It took three weeks and the sobering trip to adjust, but Anderson eventually excelled. He honed his game, lost eight pounds and perfected his mid-range jumper.

In 28 games with Tulsa, he averaged 15.8 points and shot almost 55 percent from the field, including a season-high 40-point effort in a 126-123 overtime victory on January 27. The 24-year-old added 10 points in the league’s inaugural All Star game.

“The one thing that impressed more than his work habit was his ability to get to the basket,” Meyer added.

More importantly though was Anderson’s development off the court.

“When Will Conroy got called up to the (Grizzlies) and came back, (Anderson) said, ‘Coach, let me come off the bench because I can handle it better than the other guys,’” Meyer said. “I knew right then he had made the full transition and was ready to go back to the NBA.”

Joe Sharpe, Charlotte’s trainer, phoned Tulsa to be certain that Anderson ridded Bickerstaff’s health concerns. The Bobcats coach called two days later and informed Anderson that he would rejoin his former team throughout the remainder of the season.

“I couldn’t say enough. I called anybody in the Charlotte organization that would listen to me because I really felt it was time for Alan to be back there.” Meyer said. “I did relay the story about him saying, ‘hey, let me come off the bench. I’m more mature. I can handle it.’ His conditioning and that comment told you that he was ready to go back up.”

Anderson cherished his new NBA lease, and after his return, contributed 7.2 points in 17.7 minutes during 11 appearances, including a career night in Milwaukee.

With five Bobcats injured on April 14, he scored a career-high 24 points on 10-14 shooting, including 11 points in the decisive third quarter when Charlotte reeled off a critical 14-2 run, and eventually won 113-92.

“We weren’t holding the ball,” Anderson, who added a season-high eight rebounds, said. “When we caught the ball we moved it, we went to the basket and didn’t hesitate. We gave it up to the open man and hit shots.”

Anderson’s previous season-high was on March 21, his second game after being resigned, when he scored 14 points off the bench during a 92-84 road victory over Boston.

In his second stint, he logged 15-plus minutes eight times, compared to just once in six appearances during over the season’s first 13 games.

“(I didn’t expect to play) this much right away, but towards the end of the season you usually do,” Anderson said. “I had to take advantage of whatever was thrown at me, so I was looking forward to it.”

Anderson was relieved to return to the Bobcats, the franchise that gave him his first start, and then a second chance, even if it may have been a short-term audition.

“It’s like going back to a family I already had,” he said.

Anderson, who finished the Bobcats third season with averages of 5.8 points and 15.1 minutes during 17 appearances, is now hoping that the few flashes of brilliance will be enough to warrant another opportunity when training camp commences in early October.

Bickerstaff, who retired from a 25-year coaching career in the NBA, including 13 seasons as a head coach, believes that the second-year guard indeed matured, even though the process was a tad unorthodox.

“This league is really humbling, and you have to be open and accept that,” Bickerstaff said. “Sometimes you lose the battle and win (the war).”