Nick Anderson

ORLANDO - While Nick Anderson’s game-winning ``steal’’ of Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the 1995 playoff series between Orlando and Chicago has become one of the most iconic and memorable plays in Magic history, there are a couple of quirky footnotes from that play that fans likely have forgotten on this 25th anniversary of that moment.

On the play where Anderson came up from behind Jordan and swatted the ball away from the Bulls’ legendary guard, Orlando’s Penny Hardaway – and not the hustling Anderson – was officially credited by statisticians with the steal on the game-turning play. Anderson’s tap-away from Jordan landed in the lap of Hardaway, who pushed the ball ahead and perfectly fed it to Horace Grant, who dunked over Toni Kukoc to give Orlando a 92-91 lead on the Bulls with 6.2 seconds remaining.

On his live call at the time on the Magic Radio Network, David Steele credited Anderson with the iconic play, saying: ``Anderson tries to steal it from Jordan and Jordan dribbles around him. The clock is down to 12 and Anderson stole the ball. Hardaway picks it up, two-on-one, Penny bounce pass to Grant and he dunks it! Six-point-two seconds to go! Nick Anderson stole the ball! Nick Anderson stole the ball from Michael Jordan!’’

Today is the 25th anniversary of Anderson’s poke-away play from Jordan, leading to Orlando’s 94-91 victory over the Bulls in Game 1 of the second-round playoff series. Orlando would go on to win that series, 4-2 by closing out the Bulls at the United Center. Even today, that series is of historical significance because it was the final time that a Jordan-led team ever lost in the playoffs.

Only now – some 25 years later – did Anderson learn that he wasn’t even credited with a steal on the play he’s famous for in his NBA career.

``You know, I never even knew that,’’ Anderson said of the play that resulted in Hardaway’s fifth steal of the game. ``That’s OK; we still got the win.’’

In just their sixth year of existence at the time, the Magic used the defeat of the Bulls to reach their first Eastern Conference Finals. There, they outlasted the Reggie Miller-led Indiana Pacers in seven games to get to the NBA Finals. The Magic were ultimately swept by the Houston Rockets, but fans in Central Florida still vividly remember that playoff run as one of the most glorious times in the franchise’s 31-year history.

``My biggest takeaway from that playoff run was that you really got a sense of the power of sports and its ability to unite a city,’’ said Jeff Turner, a reserve forward on that 1994-95 Magic team and currently a game analyst for Fox Sports Florida. ``People from every walk of life were all about the same thing – supporting the Magic. From the goggles on the water tower and the posters and billboards all around town – it was all just incredible. It was a great time to be a Magic fan, and a great time to be a Magic player, too.’’

For Anderson, a Chicago native who grew up rooting for the Bulls and admiring Jordan from afar, his ``steal’’ of the iconic Chicago guard in Game 1 still brings on a variety of emotions some 25 years later. Rarely does a week pass that a fan doesn’t mention to the play to him – both with fondness and disdain.

``I still get asked about that play a lot and (Magic) fans still talk about how big of a moment that was for us,’’ said Anderson, who was inducted into the Magic Hall of Fame following his 10 years with the franchise from 1989-98. ``And, my friends back home in Chicago are still mad about me for making that play to beat the Bulls.

``My personal opinion of the play is this: It was a great basketball play, but I don’t think it would have been talked about as much if it would have been against someone else,’’ Anderson added. ``But because it happened against Michael Jordan, that just made it an even bigger moment.’’

There were a couple of other footnotes to the Anderson ``steal’’ that might have been forgotten over the course of the past 25 years. Some 2 ½ months prior to that Game 1 in the playoffs, Anderson was the hero of a 105-103 Magic victory over the Bulls at Orlando Arena with some more late-game heroics. With that regular-season game knotted at 103, Anderson batted a ball away and into the waiting hands of Hardaway – sound familiar yet? – and the Magic point guard raced ahead for the winning dunk with seven-tenths of a second remaining. In that instance, Anderson used his defensive brilliance to poke the ball away from a spinning Kukoc for that game-winning steal.

Back to Game 1 of the playoffs, Anderson’s defensive stand in the closing seconds might have actually been more important than the famous play where he is so often credited for a steal. With the Magic ahead 92-91, Chicago got the ball to Jordan, who easily beat Donald Royal off the dribble and appeared headed for the basket. An alert Anderson came off of Scottie Pippen and stopped Jordan at the free throw line. Jordan tried getting the ball to a cutting Pippen, but the pass was behind the small forward and caromed out of bounds as Orlando Arena erupted with raucous noise.

While Jordan is unquestionably one of the NBA’s all-time greatest winners – and ESPN’s ``The Last Dance’’ docuseries certainly has highlighted many of his signature victories in recent weeks – he had tremendous struggles that night with the physical and aggressive defense of Anderson. In that Game 1, Jordan – wearing No. 45 at the time – shot a pedestrian eight of 22 from the floor and turned the ball over eight times – the final two turnovers coming as result of stellar defensive stands by Anderson.

``I’m a big fan of (former Detroit Pistons’ guard) Joe Dumars, and I tried to patent my game after him,’’ said Anderson, who had 20 points, three 3-pointers and a steal in that Game 1 against the Bulls. ``I always wanted to be like Dumars on and off the floor – he was a beast on the floor and then away from the floor, he’s the gentlest guy you’d ever come across.

``(Dumars) used to tell me about when he was facing Jordan, `You’re not going to stop them from hitting shots, but you have to make them work for their shots,’’’ Anderson added. ``So, when it came to guarding guys like Michael, Magic (Johnson), Clyde Drexler and Reggie Miller, I had to try and make them work for their shots and make it tough on them with my defense.’’

Though some historians have tried to discount Orlando’s defeat of Chicago in those 1995 playoffs because Jordan had just returned to the NBA from a retirement a few months earlier, Anderson still feels that series legitimized the upstart Magic and did wonders for the young squad’s confidence.

``That (defeat of Chicago) gave us a lot of credibility and respect, beating Michael and the Bulls like that,’’ recalled Anderson, adding that Chicago had won NBA titles before in 1991, ’92 and ’93 and would go on to win three more in ’96, ’97 and ‘98. ``I know M.J. was coming out of retirement, but as they say, `The game must be played,’ and we won it.’’

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.

25-years-ago-today-nick-anderson-pokes-ball-away-from-michael-jordan

25 Years Ago Today: Nick Anderson Pokes Ball Away From Michael Jordan

ranking-nick-andersons-top-10-games-with-magic

Ranking Nick Anderson's Top 10 Games With Magic

Por Josh CohenTraducido y Editado por Adly Santiago31 de mayo del 2016

ORLANDO – Independientemente de si es durante la temporada de baloncesto o no, una de las prioridades del Orlando Magic es estar en las comunidades de toda la Florida Central y ayudar a las personas a vivir más saludable.

Por lo tanto, no fue una sorpresa que el Magic estuvo en el “Christian Service Center” en Orlando el martes 31 de mayo para servir comidas a los residentes locales desfavorecidos a través del programa “Daily Bread”.

Los embajadores del Magic en la comunidad, Nick Anderson y Bo Outlaw junto a varios miembros del personal del Magic sirvieron un almuerzo nutritivo a más de 300 personas.

"Cuando uno está aquí y está ayudando a los menos afortunados, es una bendición", dijo Anderson. "Recuerdo al Sr. (Rich) DeVos diciendo que este equipo pertenece a la comunidad. Es algo maravilloso".

"Esto es lo que hacemos, tratando de hacer una diferencia en la comunidad", dijo Outlaw. "Me da alegría ver las sonrisas en los rostros. Agradezco la oportunidad de venir aquí y ayudar".

Algunas de las estadísticas sobre el hambre en la Florida Central son asombrosas. Alrededor del 70 por ciento de los hogares tuvo que elegir entre pagar por la comida y el pago de alquiler/hipoteca al menos una vez en los últimos 12 meses y el 73 por ciento de los hogares informaron tener que elegir entre pagar por los alimentos o por su transporte (Estadísticas del “Second Harvest Food Bank” de la Florida Central).

"El hambre es una de nuestras áreas de enfoque con el Magic y estamos muy contentos de tener nuestro personal y voluntarios para ayudar a apoyar esta causa", dijo Latria Leak, Directora Asistente de Relaciones Comunitarias del Magic. "Para el Magic, cada día es día de juego para nosotros. No tenemos ninguna temporada baja cuando se trata de nuestra comunidad".

El Magic está comprometido a luchar contra el problema del hambre. Ellos han desarrollado un programa de “Hoops for Hunger”, que se compone de varias actividades durante todo el año. Recientemente, todo el personal del Magic y el personal de UnitedHealthcare ensamblaron 12,000 paquetes de alimentos para el programa “Hi-Five Kids Pack”. El Magic dio a conocer el segundo "Magic Love Pantry", en asociación con Outback Steakhouse, la cual ofrece a los estudiantes locales con alimentos de emergencia y artículos de higiene básicos. También sirven desayuno el Día de Acción de Gracias por 23º año consecutivo en el “Coalition for the Homeless”.

El programa “Daily Bread” reparte cerca de 150,000 comidas y aproximadamente 3,000 a 3,500 personas por año. Ofrece comidas nutritivas gratuitas al mediodía, seis días a la semana (de domingo a viernes), a cualquier persona en la comunidad que tenga hambre.

"Es muy importante tener al Magic aquí, ya que realmente envía una señal al resto de la comunidad de lo importante que nuestro programa es en la comunidad", dijo el Director Ejecutivo del “Christian Service Center” Robert Stuart. "Estamos encantados con la oportunidad de asociarnos con el Orlando Magic."

el-orlando-magic-continua-luchando-contra-el-hambre-en-la-florida-central

El Orlando Magic Continúa Luchando Contra el Hambre en la Florida Central

magics-best-individual-single-game-scoring-performances

Magic's Best Individual Single-Game Scoring Performances

ORLANDO – Regardless of whether it’s basketball season or not, one of the Orlando Magic’s priorities is to be out in communities across Central Florida and help people live healthier.

So, it was no surprise that the Magic were at the Christian Service Center in Orlando on Tuesday, May 31 to serve meals to underprivileged local residents through The Daily Bread program.

Magic Community Ambassadors Nick Anderson and Bo Outlaw along with several other Magic staff served a nourishing noontime meal to more than 300 people.

“When you are out here and are helping those less fortunate, it is a blessing,” Anderson said. “I remember Mr. (Rich) DeVos saying this team belongs to the community. It’s a wonderful thing to do.”

“This is what we do, trying to make a difference in the community,” Outlaw said. “I get the most joy by seeing the smiles on the faces. I appreciate the opportunity to come here and help.”

Some of the stats on hunger in Central Florida are staggering. Around 70 percent of households had to choose between paying for food and paying for rent/mortgage at least once in the past 12 months and 73 percent of households reported having to choose between paying for food or transportation (Statistics from the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida).

“Hunger is one of our focus areas with the Magic and we are so happy to have our staff and volunteers here to help support the cause,” Magic Assistant Director of Community Relations Latria Leak said. “For the Magic, every day is game day for us. We have no offseason when it comes to our community.”

The Magic are committed to fighting the issue of hunger. They have developed a Hoops for Hunger program, which consists of several activities throughout the year. Recently, the entire Magic staff and UnitedHealthcare staff assembled 12,000 food packs for the Hi-Five Kids Pack program. The Magic unveiled the second “Magic Love Pantry,” in partnership with the Outback Steakhouse, which provides local students with emergency food and basic hygiene items. They also served Thanksgiving breakfast for the 23rd straight year at the Coalition for the Homeless.

The Daily Bread program serves about 150,000 meals and roughly 3,000 to 3,500 people per year. It offers free nourishing noontime meals six days a week (Sunday to Friday) to anyone in the community who is hungry.

“Really important to have the Magic here because it really sends a signal to the rest of the community how important our program is in the community,” Executive Director of the Christian Service Center Robert Stuart said. “We are thrilled about the opportunity to be partnering with the Orlando Magic.”

orlando-magic-continue-to-fight-hunger-in-central-florida

Orlando Magic Continue to Fight Hunger in Central Florida

ticketmaster

Testing the alert! Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore.