When it finally happened, the day he unequivocally purged the self-doubts about his chances of playing in the NBA from his mind, it took Eric Anderson all of five minutes.
He was in New York, among strangers, some 800 miles from home, and it was a liberating experience for the former Indiana University star.
”I was at the Knicks` free-agent camp, and me and some of the other guys were in the gym waiting for the first day of practice to start when the coaches walked in,” Anderson recalled.
”Right away, they noticed how the guys were all apart, in cliques, some on one end of the baseline, the others at the opposite end. They called us together and told us if we had any hopes of making it in this league, we`d better leave all that selfish stuff behind and try to come together as a unit. ”Basically, they wanted to remind everyone that there are no `i`s` in the word `team,` that team ball is in.”
Anderson had long known that. And now, for him to hear NBA coaches, the decision-makers he hoped to impress, uttering those very words only helped to ease his mind.
”I`m a team ballplayer, and my worry coming to these kinds of camps was that that style of play can easily be overshadowed when you`re playing with guys as talented as these,” he said. ”It can be kind of like an all-star game, one guy trying to outshine the other, all at the sake of the team.
”But after hearing the coaches speak, I knew right away there was a place for me in this league. After being there for just five minutes, my confidence was shooting through the roof.”
That would be in complete contrast to the way Anderson probably felt in June, when he went unclaimed in the two-round NBA draft.
”I wasn`t devastated or anything,” said Anderson, who had just come off the high of having led the Hoosiers to the Final Four. ”But, yeah, I was disappointed. But I`ve since come to realize that the versatility being a free agent allows can have its advantages, too.
”Now, I`m able to pick the teams I want to work out with. And, of course, my inclination is to attend the camps where I feel I really have a chance of making the team.”
From New York, it was on to San Antonio and a weeklong mini-camp with the Spurs for the 6-foot-9-inch, 215-pound forward, who was the 1988 Illinois Mr. Basketball winner at St. Francis de Sales. In between, Anderson and his New York-based agent, Eric Fleisher, have kept busy by talking with an array of European teams.
From that, said Fleisher, formal contract offers have emerged from an Italian team and a Spanish team.
”Those teams are very eager to have Eric,” Fleisher said. ”As for the NBA teams, my understanding is that they are viewing Eric in different lights. ”What the Knicks want is someone who can give them a few minutes off the bench now but shows the potential to keep growing and improving for the future.
”Eric really impressed them during the week he was there. We`ve already entered into preliminary (contract) talks with them.
”San Antonio, on the other hand, is looking for guys to come in and step up right away and contribute, guys who can help carry the scoring load.”
At Indiana, Anderson showed a flair that indicated he could handle either role.
As a freshmen, he averaged 11.9 points and a team-leading six rebounds a game in becoming the consensus choice for Big 10 Freshman of the Year.
During the NCAA tournament that year, he averaged a team-high 17.3 points in leading the Hoosiers into the Sweet 16.
He finished his career with 1,715 points to rank seventh on the school`s all-time scoring list.
”I`m a hard worker, and I really know the game,” Anderson said. ”I feel those are my strengths, and I want to build on those. But I also know there are things I need to work on, and I`ve made a list of those, too.
”I know I need to get stronger to have any real success at this level, and I know I need to work on developing moves facing the basket because my days of playing center are probably over.”
But Anderson is confident he can add those things to his game. His play at rookie camp convinced him.
”I thought I had a great camp with the Knicks,” said Anderson. ”If I had to guess, I would say that if I`m in an NBA veteran camp come November, it would be with them. As for me playing abroad, it would probably take a combination of a great offer and no one here offering me a guaranteed deal.” But when it comes to sports, Anderson realizes there aren`t many guarantees. And he`s preparing himself, if need be, to deal with that reality. ”I have my degree in psychology, and I know there are always things I can do with that,” he said.
”I haven`t given much thought to what that would be because all of my energies are going into playing ball. I want to give this everything I have, and if it doesn`t work out, I`ll walk away and go after all my other goals with the same kind of vigor I`ve put into this.”
