The Orlando Magic WrestleMania

Nick Anderson is Ric Flair

By Philip Rossman-Reich

Nick Anderson and Ric Flair’s personalities probably could not be any different.

Ric Flair was the boisterous and flashy in his character. He was the high-profiling, wheeling and dealing son of a gun. Flair was sometimes the bad guy everyone hated in the blue-collar sport and sometimes the hero everyone needed.

But Flair’s style was very workman like. He was a technical wrestler, using his finishing figure-four leglock to make his opponents submit. He methodically weakened his opponent with every dirty trick in the book.

Nick Anderson was much the same way in his play, even with some of the boisterousness Ric Flair had. Who could forget Nick Anderson draining the 3-pointer in Shaquille O’Neal’s first game back in Orlando and busting out the Merton Hanks dance to celebrate.

Anderson did always add a little bit of unpredictability to the game with his personality and his play. He could beat opponents inside with a solid post game for a guard at the time or he could beat them outside with his 3-point shot.

Like Flair, he was never the main attraction (although Flair holds the record with 16 world titles). But Anderson was the glue that kept things together all the time.