Willie Anderson




Roster

WILLIE ANDERSON

Position: Forward
Born: 1/8/67, Greenville, South Carolina
College: Georgia
Height: 6' 8"
Weight: 205 lbs.
Stats

Background: The fleet Willie Anderson is a superb athlete whose NBA success has been slowed by leg injuries. At 6-foot-8, he has the size of a forward, but his speed, ballhandling skills, and slashing ability make him a difficult player to handle at the guard position.

Anderson began his career at the University of Georgia as a forward but moved to off guard for his last two seasons. In both of those campaigns he earned a spot on the All-Southeastern Conference First Team. He averaged 16.7 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.0 assists as a senior and shot exactly .500 from the field for the second straight year. His college career field-goal percentage was also exactly .500.

Anderson, who played on the 1988 U.S. Olympic basketball team, came to the NBA as the 10th overall pick of the 1988 NBA Draft. He was taken by San Antonio and went on to spend his first seven NBA seasons with the Spurs. Anderson was terrific as a rookie, averaging 18.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists; shooting .498 from the field; and earning a spot on the NBA All-Rookie First Team. He became the first Spurs rookie to lead the team in scoring, was runner-up for the Rookie of the Year Award (behind Mitch Richmond), and posted back-to-back 36-point games. Statistically, that season has been his best.

Anderson had another strong year in 1989-90, averaging 15.7 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.4 assists. The Spurs were buoyed by the arrival of rookie David Robinson that season and won the Midwest Division with a 56-26 record. In the playoffs Anderson averaged 20.3 points in 10 games as the Spurs bowed to the Portland Trail Blazers in the conference semifinals.

With Robinson taking over as team leader, Anderson's scoring output slid in 1990-91 to 14.4 points per game. He missed the entire preseason and seven regular-season games because of stress fractures in both of his shins, injuries that would plague him for the next two seasons. Anderson missed 25 games in 1991-92 and 44 contests in 1992-93. He underwent bone graft surgery on both shins in April 1992 and further surgeries in November 1992.

Anderson returned in 1993-94 and appeared in 80 games, starting 79, but he wasn't as effective as he had been before the injuries. In 1994-95 he appeared in 38 games and then saw spot duty during San Antonio's run to the Western Conference Finals. At season's end the Spurs left Anderson unprotected in the NBA Expansion Draft, and he was picked up by the Toronto Raptors.

Transactions: Selected by the San Antonio Spurs in the first round (10th pick overall) of the 1988 Draft. Selected by the Toronto Raptors in the 1995 Expansion Draft on 6/25/95. Traded with Victor Alexander to the New York Knicks for Doug Christie and Herb Williams on 2/18/96.

1994-95: A former rookie sensation, Anderson found himself a seldom-used reserve with the San Antonio Spurs in 1994-95. He played in 38 games and averaged 4.9 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 14.6 minutes per contest. Elbow problems slowed him during the year; he was on the injured list from December 5 to December 30 with impingement syndrome and a nerve contusion, and he sat out three games in March because of a strained elbow.

In a January 28 game Anderson scored 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, and on November 23 he recorded 8 rebounds and 4 steals. But the Spurs found a rhythm without Anderson, using an off guard rotation that included Vinny Del Negro, Chuck Person, and Doc Rivers. San Antonio compiled the league's best record but lost to the Houston Rockets in six games in the conference finals. Anderson played a total of 84 minutes in 10 of the 15 postseason games and averaged 2.0 points.

1993-94: After leg injuries had robbed him of parts of the previous two seasons, Anderson finally returned to health in 1993-94. The 6-foot-8 swingman, who had missed 69 games in the previous two years, started 79 of 80 contests and ranked third on the team in scoring with 11.9 points per game. He also led the San Antonio Spurs in free-throw percentage (.848) and finished second on the team in assists (4.3 apg).

When the Spurs traded Sean Elliott to the Detroit Pistons prior to the season, they created a major offensive void. David Robinson certainly picked up some of the slack, but so did Anderson, who scored in double figures 46 times during the year. He exploded for a season-high 33 points against the Lakers in Los Angeles on February 25.

1992-93: Anderson underwent surgery on both shins following the 1991-92 season, and his recovery lasted well into 1992-93. He missed the season's first 38 games before the Spurs activated him on January 20. He appeared for the first time on January 29 in a game against the Phoenix Suns and played in 38 games during the rest of the season.

Anderson slowly worked his way back, playing only 14.7 minutes per game in the regular season and averaging 4.8 points and 2.1 assists. He scored in double figures eight times, with a season-high 18 points in the final regular-season game against the Houston Rockets on April 22.

Coach John Lucas used Anderson more extensively in the playoffs, and he responded with 9.5 points per game in 10 postseason contests.

1991-92: The one-two punch of Anderson and David Robinson went down for the count late in the season, contributing to San Antonio's first-round exit from the 1992 NBA Playoffs. Anderson was sidelined with a stress fracture in his left tibia on February 17, while Robinson was placed on the injured list on April 1 after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand. Neither Anderson nor Robinson could suit up for the playoffs, although Anderson returned briefly in April after a 21-game absence.

The fourth-year guard played in only six games after his April 1 return before calling it quits for the season in order to undergo surgery. In 57 total appearances he started 55 times, averaging 13.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. He posted the first triple-double of his career on December 17 against the Mavericks in Dallas with 18 points, a season-high 12 rebounds, and 10 assists. Anderson also tied career highs with 36 points against the Warriors at Golden State on January 10 and with 12 assists versus the Timberwolves at Minnesota on November 20.

1990-91: The year began on a sore note as Anderson was hobbled by stress fractures of both shins, causing him to miss all of the preseason and the first seven games of the regular season. After returning to health, Anderson started in all 75 of his appearances, although his scoring average slipped to 14.4 points per game, the lowest of his first three seasons.

He shot a career-best .798 from the free-throw line this season, adding 4.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game. Scoring in double figures 60 times, he tallied a season-high 28 points against the Seattle SuperSonics on January 28.

Anderson was in fine form for the 1991 NBA Playoffs. He scored 38 points and teammates David Robinson and Rod Strickland each added 30 as the Spurs took the first game of a first-round series against Golden State, 130-121. But that was San Antonio's last win of the series, as the young Warriors took the next three games. Anderson averaged 19.0 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.8 assists in the four postseason games.

1989-90: Anderson became a Spurs fixture during his sophomore season in the NBA, starting in 81 of his 82 appearances. He banged in a season-high 28 points against the Hornets in Charlotte on April 16 and was fast becoming a powerful one-two punch with David Robinson, the NBA Rookie of the Year in 1989-90.

Anderson averaged 15.7 points to rank third on the team in scoring behind Robinson (24.3 ppg) and Terry Cummings (22.4). The Spurs checked the statistics sheet whenever Anderson began a scoring run in the fourth quarter-the club was 10-0 when he scored 10 or more fourth-quarter points.

Anderson had a fine postseason despite playing the final two playoff games with a dislocated left thumb. His postseason averages were 20.5 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game as San Antonio swept the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the NBA Playoffs and then went on to lose to the Portland Trail Blazers in seven games in the Western Conference Semifinals.

1988-89: The San Antonio Spurs obtained more than they could have hoped for when they snared Willie Anderson with the 10th overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft. After earning First-Team All-Southeastern Conference honors as a senior at Georgia, Anderson was an instant success in the NBA, finishing runner-up to Mitch Richmond for the NBA Rookie of the Year Award.

Anderson was named to the NBA All-Rookie First Team after playing in 81 games and averaging a team-high 18.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists. The first Spurs rookie ever to lead the team in scoring, he scored in double figures 73 times and hit 20 or more points on 31 occasions. His 150 steals set a rookie record for the club.

His season highlights included back-to-back 36-point outings against the Philadelphia 76ers on January 5 and then against the Warriors at Golden State on January 7. He dished for a season-high 12 assists on April 15 versus the Suns at Phoenix, totaled 11 rebounds on January 3 against the Denver Nuggets, and had a career-high 6 steals on January 23 against the Miami Heat.

WILLIE ANDERSON

Sea. Team G Min. FG 3Pt. FT Reb. Ast. Stl. Blk. Tot. PG
88-89San Antonio812738.498.190.77541737215062150818.6
89-90San Antonio822788.492.269.74837236411158128815.7
90-91San Antonio752592.457.200.7983513587946108314.4
91-92San Antonio571889.455.232.775300302545174413.1
92-93San Antonio38560.430.125.78657791461834.8
93-94San Antonio802488.471.324.848242347714695511.9
94-95San Antonio38556.469.158.732555226101854.9
95-96New York762060.436.283.81024619775597429.8
Career Totals:52715671.471.258.78520402071580338668812.7
1996 Playoffs:464.318.167.8579140215.3
Playoff Totals:431020.471.353.771125122381045010.5
All-Star Totals:00---------00000.000

Return to top of page





1