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Orlando Magic Top 30: The Most Popular Player in Orlando Magic history

By Philip Rossman-Reich

BOSTON, MA - 1994: Dennis Scott #3, Anfernee Hardaway #1, Shaquille O'Neal #32, Nick Anderson #25, and Jeff Turner #31 of the Orlando Magic return to the court during a game played circa 1994 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1994 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA - 1994: Dennis Scott #3, Anfernee Hardaway #1, Shaquille O'Neal #32, Nick Anderson #25, and Jeff Turner #31 of the Orlando Magic return to the court during a game played circa 1994 at the Boston Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1994 NBAE (Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Nick Anderson, Orlando Magic, Clyde Drexler, Houston Rockets
ORLANDO, FL – JUNE 7: Nick Anderson #25 of the Orlando Magic posts up against Clyde Drexler #21 of the Houston Rockets in Game One of the 1995 NBA Finals at the Orlando Arena June 7, 1995 in Orlando, Florida. The Rockets won 120-118. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1995 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

4. Nick Anderson (1990-99)

When the Orlando Magic drafted Nick Anderson in the 1989 NBA Draft, Anderson said he had to look up where Orlando was on a map. He did not even know the Magic existed.

In fairness, the team did not exist. There were not any players on the team yet. This was a brand new team in a city that did not have major professional sports before. Both the player and the city were about what the future might be one day.

Anderson did not know when the Magic made him the 11th pick of that draft that he would find a new home. A Chicago kid through and through found a home in Central Florida. He made a connection here that was deep.

It was not merely because he was the first player in team history. The first one Magic fans could truly call one of their own.

He played well, mixing his size and power with his deft shooting touch to be a unique player that was difficult for many teams to handle. He played so many roles with Orlando — he was their top scorer, a key role player and then a top scorer again. He was everything to this franchise.

Nationally, Anderson is remembered for something else. The “Nick the Brick” nickname followed him from his four missed free throws in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals. That would normally make any player the all-time goat. A reason for scorn for failing to deliver in such a big moment.

That was never Anderson. The 1995 season is remembered more for his steal of Michael Jordan in Game 1 of the second round more than those free throws. He was everything for Orlando.

In his early retirement, he once told the Orlando Sentinel there was an emptiness in him that he was not involved in some way with the Magic. Everything turned around for him when he became a community ambassador for the team.

Like his partner in that role, Bo Outlaw, Nick Anderson’s smile lights up a room. It just feels like he is home.