The American Class: Ron Anderson
2/17/2011 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 17, 2011
FRESNO, Calif. - This article about former Fresno State men's basketball player Ron Anderson was written by French journalist Mathieu Polen and translated by Pauline Carre, Fresno State Athletics Communications.
At the supermarket of Saint-André de la Marche, district of 2,700 inhabitants in the region of Cholet, there is a 6'7", 215 lbs. security guard to welcome you. Always ready to help, he aids old women with their bags. The situation sounds normal so far, but it seems absurd to discover that this giant at the main entrance of this provincial supermarket is in fact an ex-teammate of Charles Barkley.
Indeed, this man who is always ready to help customers competed against Michael Jordan, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. This security guard is Ron Anderson, a player accustomed to peculiarities. After a career of more than 30 years (10 of those in the NBA), he just retired from La Séguinière, one of the French "Nationale 2" basketball clubs.
This ex-NBA phenomenon is now working as a guard at the supermarket. "Ron is a very helping person, very nice with customers. He always goes to load shopping bags in customers' cars and carries heavy or voluminous articles," store director Fabien Bouhier said. With a soft smile, the ex-basketball player shakes the hands of some and kisses others. He is a real icon in this little part of Mauges. A native of Chicago, he today holds a post which has nothing to do with basketball but enables him to stay active. "When you retire and are used to work, after a while you become bored and need to do something." Random or coincidence, at the end of the 1970's, Ronald Gene Anderson worked for a supermarket in Chicago and also helped customers with their goods. At this same period, his destiny met basketball.
ON HIS WAY FOR THE NBA
Being a child of rough areas in the Windy City, Ron Anderson left school at 17. Son of a UPS manager and a working mother who finally stayed home to take care of her six children, Ron quickly became independent. When he turned 20, he got a job at a supermarket, moved into a small studio and bought a car. Not really involved in school, Anderson was ready to start an orderly life. But fate decided on another life for Ron. In 1979, he was 21. Like usually, he was on the playground in the area of Cabrini Queen at the Stony Island Park in Chicago. "Keith Williams, a player from Santa Barbara City College spending holidays in the region, spotted me while I was training. He offered me a scholarship for junior college. Four days later, I arrived on the West Coast." Southern California and Santa Barbara were the first steps of a path to the parquet floors of the NBA. However, at that time, Anderson admitted that the Great League was not an objective. "I didn't even think about playing for the NBA, it wasn't a dream for me, compared to many young fellows around me who already played in high school."
During his two years spent at the California public institution, Anderson was absorbed in books and barely hung in there. But in basketball, on the contrary, he was having fun. Anderson played in 65 games and scored averaged 16 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 58.8 percent from the field. At age 24, Anderson entered a more renowned university, Fresno State, still in California. There, he chose a major in communications and worked hard to be selected by and play with the Bulldogs' team. In his first game with these new colors, he competed against Zalgiris Kaunas, a Soviet club at that time, which included a certain Arvydas Sabonis on the team. During this encounter, Ron Anderson scored 27 points and grabbed nine rebounds. One year later, in 1983, Fresno State was in the championship for the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden. The California players faced the DePaul Blue Demons, from Chicago. All the Anderson family was present in New York. In their roster, Fresno State had 5 Chicago-born players. The result, the Californians won 69-60 and Ron Anderson was awarded the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. He also received this reward a few months later during a tournament in Hawaii where another promising player was participating, Hakeem Olajuwon.
Freshly graduated and having a new line of glorious statistics (averaged 16.9 points on 56 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds in 68 games), Ron went to a camp in California for the 1984 draft. There, he was honored to be the best player alongside the current coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers, Byron Scott. During this camp, Ron Anderson made a strong impression towards the coach of the Ohio franchise, George Karl. Thus, they chose him in the second round of the 1984 draft, in 27th position. This was the exact same year of Michael Jordan, Kevin Willis, Alvin Robertson and Charles Barkley. One of the most precious or maybe the most precious honor, with four players later enthroned to the NBA Hall of Fame.
36 POINTS AGAINST MICHAEL JORDAN, 32 AGAINST LARRY BIRD
"When I was drafted by Cleveland, it was simply awesome! One of my best memories." At 26, Ron Anderson signed his first NBA contract. He spent three years with the Cavaliers. The Chicago playgrounds and his job at the supermarket were far behind him. His first NBA game was against Philadelphia and Julius Erving. Facing a basketball legend, he scored 27 points against 12 of his seniors. "We didn't win the game but at each scored basket Julius Erving was hitting my head and saying `good job young fella.'" During his first season, he only played in 36 games (starting seven times) but he quickly became the sixth member of the team, a place that he kept all along his NBA career. "When I started in the NBA I thought I was like the others. I had to show I was a good player. It was the greatest period with all the best players, but I wasn't a star." During his second year in Cleveland, he was traded in the middle of the season to Indiana where he played two years with Reggie Miller. In 1988, he joined the Philadelphia 76ers, after Dr J's retirement. After his departure, the club was relying on Charles Barkley's skills, another great player.
In Pennsylvania, Ron enjoyed his most successful years. In 1989, while he was 30 and a new father of a baby boy, he averaged 16.2 points and five rebounds. It was his best individual season. Far from being impressed by the talented players of that time, he actually had his best performances against them. "I scored 32 points against Larry Bird and 36 points against Michael Jordan at the Chicago arena. Against the Bulls, I never had a bad game. It was always a great pleasure to play there, in front of my family." He stayed in Philadelphia until 1993, even playing the totality of games for both the 1988-89 and 1990-91 seasons. From these times, he still remembers his legendary ex-teammate's outspokenness. "Playing with Charles Barkley was exceptional, he never trained a lot and sometimes did not train at all, but he had natural easiness and skills." On the other side, Sir Charles is also complimentary his ex-76ers wing. "It was an honor to play with Ron in Philly." At the end of his contract with Philadelphia, Anderson signed as free agent with the New Jersey Nets but did not play. He was sent to the CBA (minor league) to the Rochester Renegades and concluded his American career with the Washington Bullets at the age of 35.
Ron Anderson spent ten years in the NBA, playing for five different clubs. In 664 games, he scored 7,056 points (10.6 per game), 2,312 rebounds (3.5) and 952 assists (1.4). After ten seasons of intense games, overexcited audience and travel every three days, he could have enjoyed a quiet life thanks to his NBA pension. "A very good pension," he said without adding any details. Indeed, every single NBA player involved at least four years in the league (five years nowadays) benefits from a pension for life. But his passion for basketball led him to Europe. A destination he also chose "to move away from problems I had in the U.S."
A SECOND CAREER IN FRANCE
In 1994, Ron arrived in Montpellier. "I didn't know European Basketball at all. At that time, there were numerous American players arriving in Europe but they had problems with integration." At 36, by Todd Mitchell's and Olivier Bourgain's sides, the American showed all his talent in Pro A. He ended the 1994-95 season as the best scoring player in the championships (averaging 25.5 points). Aware that he was still in top form, Ron left for Israel to the Maccabi Tel Aviv, a more and more renowned club. However, after an injury to his meniscus, he was only able to play a few games during the season. "If everything goes well in my life, I can live in every country. For Maccabi, you eat, you sleep, you live thinking of basketball. You barely have a personal life." Thus, he came back to France and played at Mans. "The best club during my European journey," said Anderson, coached by Alain Weisz and with another American, Josh Grant. "I was always in top form at that time!" Thanks to the American duo of Grant/Anderson (we can also add Dwayne Scholten), the MSB had a very good season. The club finished in the fourth position of the championship and Ron Anderson became the best scoring player on the team with 18.6 points per game for the season. In 1996-97, he was also nominated at the LNB All-Star Game and won the 3-point competition. Then, successively at Netanya (Israël), Tours (Pro B) and Montpellier (Pro A), he finally stopped his professional career in Angers (Pro B) at the end of the 1999-2000 season. Ron was 42 and inherited his only nickname, Papy Jacuzzi. "I started to take care of my health these last years. I needed rest. I went to the Jacuzzi, sauna, and hammam." But more than everything else, what led him to continue was his strong motivation.
THE AMERICAN FROM LA SEG'
While Ron just moved to the Cholet suburbs with his new French girlfriend, he one day met the president's son of a small regional club called La Séguinière. This same man asked him if he would like to take up basketball again and play as a hobby. The passion of Papy Jacuzzi for the orange ball was too strong to resist. During ten years, Ron Anderson, ex-teammate of Charles Barkley, Hersey Hawkins, Manute Bol and Reggie Miller, played for the La Séguinière Club in a district of 3,660 souls situated in the Maine-et-Loire department and in a 450 seats gymnasium called "salle de l'Arceau." The names of his opponents were not magic anymore. Far from the games against the Lakers, the Bulls or the Celtics, his opponents were now Horsarrieu, Serres-Gaston, Fougères or Tourcoing. "For me the level wasn't important. What was essential was playing basketball, either in the NBA or `départementale', `régionale' or `Nationale 3.'" A truly passionate man, he was able at 50 to have 22 games with more than 20 points each time and sometimes even 45. The current president of this club, Laurent Verron, confirms, "During the training, he was really involved, he counted the points and wanted to win. During the games, he was using his experience and was like the devil. He was running less fast but had the same gesture than when he used to play for the NBA."
The soft-shooting-wing and his teammates (including Mr. Jean-Marc Sétier, an ex-pro from Limoges, PSG Racing and Cholet) became more and more successful. From "régionale 1" in 2000, the club rose to "Nationale 2." Etienne Devanne, a 21 years old player (31 years of difference with Ron), who was trained there and played with him these last years, remembers the arrival of "the American." "When Ron arrived, he was the star of La Ség', the center of interest! At that time, I was on the junior team of the club. I remember I was going to the games every Saturday night and told my parents that maybe one day I could play with him. And it became real. Incredible!" He also brought a lot around him thanks to his human qualities. "He had close links with lots of persons involved in the club, young players, audience, managers. When he was arriving, he just walked around the basketball court to say hello to everybody. After the game, he was having a drink like everybody else." He seemed to appreciate the friendly atmosphere of the club, which was very different from what he used to know in the U.S.
But little by little an old injury on a knee, due to a contact with Dennis Rodman 25 years ago, became painful. "I first had a small lesion, and then I started to feel arthritis. These last years they gave me injections to relieve pain, but this situation could not continue." In November this year, his knee said "stop," Ron Anderson had 52 years and more than 30 years of basketball behind him. "If I had to choose, I would have continued again" he said with conviction. The giant from Illinois also made this decision to spend time with his 7-year-old daughter, born in France, and as well see his 21-year-old son, Ron Anderson Jr., 6,8" and 255 lbs. thanks to heredity, play with the orange ball. In the NCAA, with the South Florida Bulls, Junior averages 10 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. He is following in his father's footsteps.
BARKLEY IN THE MAINE-ET-LOIRE?
The sad news of Ron Anderson's retirement involved a tribute to his talent on November 27, 2010. For his last game, he entered in the middle of the game, played ten minutes, scored eight points and left the court supported by cheers from the local audience. A jubilee will be organized on May 13th with his ex-teammates from La Séguinière and French championship in Pro A and maybe some ex-NBA players. The president Laurent Verron cannot hide his enthusiasm about the idea to receive ex-American stars in the "salle de l'Arceau." From them, Ron gained respect as we can see in this declaration by Charles Barkley, "I'm really proud of him as he continued to play at his age. He was coming from nowhere and knew how to become a good NBA player. I am glad and proud of Ron as well as his career path."
A passionate player, Ron Anderson brought his experience to his teammates. In love with the games and showing a real hunger to win, he also had a perfect behavior on the court, towards his opponents, the referees and the audience. From Chicago playgrounds to La Séguinière gymnasium, this is probably the most impressive resume in basketball which evolved in France and just ended its career. "In France, there is no Michael Jordan but there is Ron Anderson," he said with a smile. However, he quickly added, "I would like to thank all these people who supported me, who enjoyed seeing me playing and these players I met during these 32 years of career. Maybe I love this sport too much, but basketball is my life."
