Stars of Magic Past: Anthony Bowie

Anthony Bowie was a very solid bench player for the Orlando Magic who is probably best known for his infamous triple double. That’s unfortunate for Anthony because he gave the Magic a few good seasons coming off of the bench.

Anthony played both Guard and Forward. He was listed at 6’6 and 190 lbs. Bowie was selected in the third round (66th overall) of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets out of the University of Oklahoma where he spent two seasons. During the 1984-85 season, Bowie played in 37 games. He averaged 13.4 points per game on an incredible .515 shooting percentage. He also averaged 5.8 rebounds per game and 5.3 assists per game all while playing 34.6minutes per game. The next season, Bowie posted similar numbers. He played in two fewer games and shot .502% from the field. He averaged 13.3 points and per game. His rebounding and passing numbers went down, this time averaging 4.6 RPG and 4.7 APG. Bowie played in two less games during the 1985-86 season.

Bowie did not go straight to the NBA, first playing two seasons in the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). Bowie played for the Quad City Thunder, winning MVP in 1989. He played in a few pre-season games with the Rockets in 1986 and the Nets in 1987 before joining the CBA. After his brief stint in the CBA, Bowie finally made his NBA regular season debut with the San Antonio Spurs after being waived by the New Jersey Nets during the 1988-89 season. He played in 18 games, starting five, averaging 8.6 points per game, 3.1 rebounds per game and 1.6 assists per game.

He returned to the team that drafted him – the Houston Rockets – through a trade. He played in 66 games for the Rockets – all as a backup. He averaged 4.3 PPG, 1.8 RPG and 1.5 APG.

Bowie played for Ranger Varese in Italy during the following season. He averaged 21.5 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 1.7 APG.

He became a free agent before the 1991-92 season and signed with the Orlando Magic. This was easily Bowie’s best season in the NBA. He averaged a career-high 14.6 PPG, making him the team’s fourth-leading scorer. He also averaged 4.7 RPG and 3.4 APG. Bowie played in 52 games, starting 26 of them – exactly half. Unfortunately for Bowie and the Magic, they finished 21-61.

Bowie played in 77 games, starting 45 for a much improved Magic team during the following season. His minutes went way down. After playing 33.1 minutes per game during the previous season, Bowie averaged just 22.9 minutes per game in 1992-93. He averaged 8.0 PPG, 2.5 RPG, and 2.3 APG but the team improved to 41-41 thanks to Rookie of the Year, Shaquille O’Neal.

The Magic struck gold again when they won the number one pick for the second year in a row, selecting first in the 1992 and1993 draft, but it was bad news for Anthony Bowie. The Magic drafted Michigan Forward Chris Webber but sent him to Golden State for several draft picks and the rights to Memphis State Guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway. This was good news for the Magic but terrible news for Bowie. He played in 70 games during the 1993-94 season but started zero. He played just 13.5 MPG, averaging 4.6 PPG, 1.7 RPG, and 1.5 APG. Hardaway, on the other hand became the team’s second leading scorer and helped the squad to a 52-30 record and their first division title. Unfortunately the Indiana Pacers ousted Orlando in the first round. Bowie played just 13 combined minutes in two games and failed to score.

During Orlando’s run to the NBA Finals during the 1994-95 season, Bowie’s numbers increased from the year before. He played 16.5 MPG over the course of 77 games and even started four. Bowie’s scoring average rose back to 5.5 PPG, while also averaging 1.8 RPG and 2.1 APG. Orlando finished the season at 59-23. They then defeated the Celtics (3-1), Bulls (4-2) and Pacers (4-3) before being swept by the Houston Rockets in the NBA Finals. Bowie played in 17 of the 21 playoff games, going for 3.2 PPG in just 6.9 MPG.

Bowie returned to Orlando for one more season in 1995-06. He played in 74 games, starting 4. His minutes went back down to 14.6 MPG. His averages fell to 4.2 PPG, 1.7 RPG and 1.4 APG. The Magic finished a franchise best 60-22. They easily defeated the Detroit Pistons (3-0) and the Atlanta Hawks (4-1) before being swept by Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Bulls went 72-10 during the 1995-96 season, an NBA record. They also finished the playoffs with a record of 15-3. Bowie played in all 12 of Orlando’s playoff games. He played 12.7 MPG, scoring 2.5 PPG, grabbing 1.4 RPG and dishing out 1.2 APG. Orlando’s game 4 loss to the Bulls would be Bowie’s final game with the Magic.

Bowie went back to Italy after his last season and spent a season with Stefanel Milano before returning to the NBA with the New York Knicks. Bowie played in 27 games for the Knicks during the 1997-98 season, starting three. He played 8.3 MPG, averaging 2.8 PPG, .4 APG, and 1.0 RPG. This would be Bowie’s final NBA season.

Bowie then spent a year in Lithuania playing for Zalgiris Kaunas. They won the 1999 Lithuanian championship and the European League Cup. He moved on to AEK in Greece and helped lead his team to the Greece cup. In 2000, Bowie head back to Italy playing for Paf Bologna.

After a year there, he played two more games in Greece before heading over to Russia. He helped lead Ural Great Perm to the Euroleague for the first time ever.

Even though Bowie has done a lot of good for his community and was a solid basketball, he is best known for his controversial triple double. On March 16, 1996, in a game against the Detroit Pistons, Bowie finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists, a rare feat that is very difficult to accomplish in the NBA now (unless you’re Jason Kidd or now, LeBron James).

With about four seconds left, Bowie was one assist and one rebound short of his triple double. The Magic had a 111-91 lead. The outcome of the game had not been in doubt since early in the third quarter. Detroit missed a shot and Bowie got the rebound. Bowie immediately called timeout, knowing that he now needed just one assist to get his triple double. There were just 2.7 seconds left. Doug Collins, who was Detroit’s coach at the time, ordered his team to strand under the visitor’s basket after timeout to show his anger at what he viewed was a lack of class. Brian Hill, Orlando’s coach at the time, handed the clipboard to Bowie in the huddle, showing just how upset he was. Hill then left the huddle. Bowie took the inbounds pass and bounced it down to former Magic big man David Vaughn. Vaughn dunked it, giving Bowie his triple double. Bowie tried to apologize to Collins but he wanted nothing to do with it.

Brian Hill later referred to the play as “embarrassing” and “shameful.”

"I thought it was totally uncalled for and it just is something that I regret and will look back on, and as I said, I apologize formally to everybody associated with the Pistons’ team."

Bowie appeared on ESPN’s Outside the Lines on January 13, 2002 to talk about his Triple Double. You can see the full transcript of that show here.

"Well, I can say it like this, that, you know, it wasn’t organized between me and Doug or Brian Hill. It was one of those things that he felt that that’s something he needed to do. And if he didn’t want me to achieve that goal or that record, he could have kept his team on the floor and prevented me from making the record."

Bowie’s right in that sense and even legendary Guard Oscar Robertson agreed with that point in the same show. This was also Bowie’s only real shot at a triple double, so he wanted to take advantage.

Bowie does show a little remorse as he feels bad for his former Coach, Brian Hill.

"Well, I’m going to tell you that of all the things that made me feel bad was him handing me that clipboard. But even to that point, hey, what was done, was done. And that’s something I have to live with, and that’s something that, you know, many people felt that it was OK, and many people felt that it wasn’t.But, for me, the record is there and it’s going to stay."

Bowie has moved on, co-founding “Still Got Game,” a fitness program for adults. In 2003, Bowie became Head Coach of the Bishop Moore High School basketball team in Orlando, Florida. Earlier this year, he ran a fundamental basketball camp for boys and girls entering K-6th grade.

Anthony Bowie was a very good player off of the bench for the Magic and is an excellent member of the community. He provided a lot of energy, made some clutch passes, was a solid defender and loved throwing ally-oops to Shaq. He should remembered for those qualities and not some controversial triple double.

(Andrew Melnick is Howard the Dunk’s lead blogger.Subscribe to his RSS feed and add him on Twitter to follow him daily.)