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Nicholson Helps Kids in China at Basketball Camps

Josh Cohen
Digital News Manager

Note: The contents of this page have not been reviewed or endorsed by the Orlando Magic. All opinions expressed by John Denton are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Orlando Magic or their Basketball Operations staff, partners or sponsors.

By John DentonSept. 8, 2014

ORLANDO -- Canadian by birth, an American resident throughout college and his time in the NBA and most recently a world traveler, Andrew Nicholson marvels occasionally at how the power of basketball has allowed him to experience many different cultures around the globe.

Last summer, the Orlando Magic power forward spent time in the Caribbean with Canada’s National Team and this summer he got to tour various spots across Europe because of basketball. For the past week, Nicholson has been in China – Shanghai and Xi’an more specifically – on behalf of the NBA while conducting several basketball camps in the country.

``Getting to come to places like this, is just so much fun and it’s amazing the places that I have been able to see (because of basketball),’’ Nicholson said via phone from the NBA’s offices in Shanghai. ``It’s just a great opportunity for me to see other cultures.’’

In the 10-day China trip, Nicholson conducted several kids’ basketball camps, made a promotional appearance for shoe giant, Peak, and appeared at NBA Nation for three days to meet with NBA sponsors in China. Other past and present NBA players such as Ron Harper, Glen Rice, Draymond Greem, Jared Sullinger, Miles Plumlee, Ben McLemore and Reggie Jackson have made appearances in China this summer as part of the NBA Nation Tour.

Nicholson, who will begin his third NBA season when the Magic open training camp on Sept. 30, isn’t allowing all of the travel to interfere with his preparation for the season ahead. Quite the opposite, actually. Nicholson said that most of his time is spent in the gym whether it’s intense individual morning workouts or the afternoon camps with the children.

After enduring a sophomore slump following a solid rookie season, Nicholson knows that the season ahead is a very important one for him personally as well as for the young, but steadily blossoming Magic. Orlando added four veterans (Channing Frye, Ben Gordon, Willie Green and Luke Ridnour) and three rookies (Aaron Gordon, Elfrid Payton and Devyn Marble) to a young nucleus (Nikola Vucevic, Victor Oladipo, Tobias Harris, Kyle O’Quinn, Maurice Harkless and Nicholson) and the forward is eager to see just how much that the Magic can make this season.

````I’m very excited about the season and I really want to see how we’re all going to mesh together this season,’’ Nicholson said. ``I think we have the kind of talent on the roster that we can surprise people this season.’’

Nicholson’s struggles last season surprised many after he spent the summer of 2013 adding muscle and a 3-point shot to his offensive arsenal. He opened last season with a spectacular 18-point first half in the first game and he shot the ball well for much of the first month.

However, Nicholson’s shooting touch soon left him and the time spent shooting corner 3-pointers seemed to sap his aggressiveness in the post – the area where he thrived as a rookie with his flawless footwork and heady array of fakes. Nicholson saw his scoring average plummet to 5.7 points last season and more troubling he shot just 42.9 from the floor. He made only 28 of 89 3-point shots (31.5 percent) and in retrospective he feels that he spent too much time hovering around the 3-point line when he reached the NBA on the strength of his low-post game. He has worked hard this summer – whether he was in Orlando, Europe or Asia – to return to the roots of his game, he said.

``I’ve been working to get my confidence back and I’m working again on what got me in the league in the first place,’’ Nicholson said of his array of up-and-under moves in the post. ``I’m just trying to get back inside. I did a lot of (outside) shooting last season. I want to get back where I’ve had success before.’’

Nicholson said he’s humbled by the fact that basketball has allowed him to travel around the world and touch so many lives. Mostly quite and reserved, Nicholson was given rock star treatment in China as a visiting NBA player and he said he was blown away by ``their incredible passion for basketball and the NBA.’’

A native of suburban Toronto, Nicholson is no stranger to life in large cities. But he was awed by the sheer enormity and expanse of Shanghai, one of the most densely populated cities in the world. Nicholson also took over the Magic’s Weibo account during the trip so that he could converse with Chinese basketball fans.

Nicholson has also worked to pick up some of the native language so that he can converse with the locals. Luckily, he said, the language of basketball is one that travels with him regardless where he is.

``You see this stuff on TV, but then when you get to be a part of it in person, it’s really amazing,’’ Nicholson said. ``I’m just honored to be a part of the NBA Cares/NBA Nation programs and to get an opportunity like this.’’