Derek Anderson has lived an accomplished life. Anderson has the distinction of being an NBA champion as a member of the Miami Heat, an NCAA National Champion as a Kentucky Wildcat and a published author.

Drafted 13th overall  in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, dudes kick game as a lifetime member of team Air Jordan was clean!

While in the NBA, DA also had dunks for days!

Anderson won a National Title with the Kentucky Wildcats in 1996. With March Madness right around the corner, he’s got one team on his mind. “The only team that I’m rooting for is my Kentucky Wildcats,” Derek Anderson told me on Scoop B Radio.

“Some teams are disciplined and some aren’t, so it’s different. But I’m excited to see Kentucky win because we have a great chance at beating anybody.”

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Lonzo Ball and De’Aaron Fox are believed to be the top two picks in the 2017 NBA Draft.The two and their respective team’s,UCLA and Kentucky will go head to head tonight in a Sweet 16 matchup for the ages.

One former Kentucky Wildcat is looking forward to seeing what the future holds for fellow WIldcat, De’Aaron Fox.

Chatting on the Scoop B Radio Podcast on Thursday, Derek Anderson, who won a NCAA National Championship in 1996 with Kentucky weighed in on the point guard.

Check Out Derek Anderson’s Thoughts On The NCAA Tournament On Scoop B Radio

“I think right now Fox is the key one,” he told me. “So Fox is the point guard. It’s a point guard driven league. If he continues to work on his jump shot and goes full speed like he is doing I think he will be a significant player.”

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LOS ANGELES, CA – NOVEMBER 23: Derek Anderson #1 of the Los Angeles Clippers dunks against Latrell Sprewell #8 of the New York Knicks on November 23, 1999 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. 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 1999 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)

Derek Anderson was a fly dude when he entered the NBA.

The 13th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers, Anderson was fresh off winning a NCAA National Championship with Kentucky, had a deal with the Jordan Brand and played on a Cavaliers squad that included Shawn Kemp, Brevin Knight, a young  Zydrunas Ilgauskas, Wesley Person, Cedric Henderson, Bob Sura and Vitaly Potapenko.

He’d go on to average 11 points a game and 1.5 steals. He’d play ten years in the league where he’d average 12 points a game playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Bobcats, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and the Miami Heat.

On Saturday, Anderson was the keynote speaker at the A&M Sports Academy’s March Madness Fundraiser. A&M Sports Academy is a hoops mentoring program founded in 2008. While there, he discussed the highs and lows of his journey: being a parent by the age of fourteen, being shot and stabbed, losing his mom to substance abuse, winning championships in college and the professional level. Anderson thinks he left impact. “I think they left with a purpose of I need to finish what I start  and also I need to change my attitude if I want to win,” Anderson told me.

“Those two things have always been key.”

While chatting with the students at the A&M Sports Academy, Anderson showed a video montage  of his career. Homeboy was high flying, acrobatic and showcased his arsenal of moves during his career. He zig-zagged, criss-cross apple sauced and broke ankles via crossover moves on guys like fellow NBA retiree, Kobe Bryant. While watching the montage, you couldn’t help but notice that Anderson also dunked on NBA big men like Horace Grant and Dikembe Mutombo! “I pretty much got everybody,” said Anderson. “If I can remember I think I got every big man that I can remember. So I really wasn’t searching them out, but I was always like I would love to get one of those posters up.”

You’d think Anderson got the biggest joy on dunking on Mr. No-no-no Mutombo? Was it Horace Grant? How about Charles Barkley? “Neither,” Anderson said with a sly grin.

Check out Derek Anderson Chatting With Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson on Scoop B Radio.

Apparently, Anderson has one guy in mind that he wanted to dunk on during his career that he couldn’t. “I was trying to dunk on Patrick Ewing,” Anderson said on Scoop B Radio. “I always see him trying to box out. I was growing up seeing him blocking everybody’s dunks. I see Dikembe do it but once I got Dikembe my rookie year, I was good. But I always tried to dunk on Patrick Ewing  because Jordan did it. Remember when Jordan baseline dunked on him? I always wanted to get one like that.”

In addition to chatting about his dunk conquests, the former Kentucky Wildcat also weighed in on his thoughts on the current Kentucky basketball squad and their stars chances at the next level. “I think if Monk ever plays defense he would be,” said Anderson. “But I think right now Fox is the key one. So Fox is the point guard. It’s a point guard driven league. If he continues to work on his jump shot and goes full speed like he is doing I think he will be a significant player.”

If you’re tardy to the party and not familiar with Anderson’s high-flying prowess, check it below

AAU culture is something that’s a hot button topic in sports. Kobe Bryant was critical about it in his farewell tour and Earl ‘The Pearl’ Monroe stated on the Scoop B Radio Podcast that it’s all about guard’s and forwards in the NBA. Derek Anderson weighed in as well on the debate. “I think it has changed dramatically,” said Anderson.

“I think what that is something that the AAU coaches just let their players do anything instead of teach them and train them. So now they don’t have any discipline. You look at that one kid who had 92 points, but he didn’t come past half court like half the time. Do you think our coaches would let us do that? No. He would have been all over us ‘Get back on defense play hard.’ But now there are so many coaches that let players be good so he can get a name and I think that is the issue with AAU. If they just roll the balls out and say: ‘who ever is talented go do it.’ And I think that is where AAU is failing us. The coaches aren’t demanding excellence. Therefore there is none.”

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The post Retired NBA Vet, Derek Anderson On Knicks’ Ewing: “I always tried to dunk on Patrick Ewing Because Jordan Did It” appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Derek Anderson joins Ray Abellard and Andre Murray at A&M Sports Academy’s March Madness Fundraiser at the Dalton School in Manattan. (Photo Credit: Scoop Vision Media.)

Every weekend, kids in the greater New York City area gather to play hoops. Even though ball is life, there’s more to this equation. The A&M Sports Academy is one of the best kept secrets in the nation. The instructional clinic, services student-athletes aged 9-18 through a hybrid mentoring program that attacks books,as well as the round orange ball.

Founded in 2008 by Ray Abellard and Andre Murray, A&M’s mission is to bring a diverse group of people together to create a new athletic adventure aimed at fostering self-confidence, discipline, a healthy and active lifestyle and establishing long term friendships through sports.

Andrew Becil, 18, had been a member of A&M since the 6th grade. Now a freshman at Kenyon College in Ohio, he sees how the program prepared him for life. “When I came here I thought it was just a basketball thing,” he said with a sly grin.“But I built a good relationship particularly with Dre. He always emphasized that there was more to it than just basketball. It was the lessons that he taught us about life.”

“We wanted to not only help the kids from the inner city, but kids all over,” said A&M co-founder Ray Abellard. “Basically, we transformed the program around our five pillars.”

Those five pillars include: grit, loyalty, respect, confidence and determination.

“A&M is a huge sports organization built for confidence and leadership development,” said A&M’s other co-founder Andre Murray. “So for a lot of our young athletes who aspire to do something with their lives, we’re able to help them master the game of life through basketball.”

Those lessons were on full display on Saturday March 18 at the Dalton School in Manhattan’s Upper East Side where A&M Sports Academy hosted their March Madness Fundraiser. The fundraiser was a meet and greet that housed games, fun, food, excitement. It also zeroed in on their yearly travel program to Haiti.

The program also welcomed retired NBA player, Derek Anderson as it’s keynote speaker. Drafted with the 13th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, Anderson laid out a plan to play in the NBA for ten years and then branch off into a  multitude of other business ventures. ”Once I heard about the program and did some research I felt like it was a good fit,” Anderson told me.

Before the glitz and glamor of the NBA life, Anderson was a parent by the age of fourteen, had been shot and stabbed and lost his mom to substance abuse. These days he’s promoting his book, Stamina and promotes his Stamina Academy through its A.O.K program. A.O.K., an acronym for Acts of Kindness is a key component to the Stamina Academy and Stamina Foundation, which teaches youth and young adults how to react in today’s society.

“Fame does not equal success! Your character does!”

Former @KentuckyMBB, @MiamiHEAT champ @DerekLAnderson discusses his journey. ?? pic.twitter.com/aZOaC3gm0t

— ? Brandon Robinson (@ScoopB) March 18, 2017

Saturday was a chance for him to drop knowledge, play some hoops and reminisce on his career, while sharing what he learned along the way.

A poignant moment came when Anderson shared a story with the kids in the A&M Sports Academy of how learned how to manage and save money. That first lesson came when he worked outside of a local grocery store in his hometown Louisville, Kentucky charging patrons a reasonable amount to carry groceries to their car from their shopping cart. He told folks in attendance that upon making his first $3, he went to the grocery store and bought bread and cold cuts, which lasted him for many days, rather than spending the money on a value meal at a local chain restaurant, which would have lasted him a day.

He also shared that he’s never used drugs or alcohol, he doesn’t curse and he’s never tasted Coca-Cola or Pepsi. He was pleased with the day’s turnout and what people gathered from it. “I think they left with a purpose of I need to finish what I start,” said Anderson.“And also: ‘I need to change my attitude if I want to win.’ Those two things have always been key.”

Former @KentuckyMBB and @trailblazers wing @DerekLAnderson says:

“What you think about is what you become?” pic.twitter.com/vrBWbyrJUj

— ? Brandon Robinson (@ScoopB) March 18, 2017

After Anderson’s speech, he signed paraphernalia, chatted with parents and everybody ate. A&M board member, Eric Parler, an executive with Def Jam made sure that the fundraiser had key ingredients like finger food from Wingstop. Parler joined on with A&M in 2009 and digs the five pillars of the program and the camaraderie. “I admired what they were doing and I just wanted to be apart,” he said.

“I wanted to get in and put in what was needed.”

Teamwork made the dream work.

For more information on A&M Sports Academy visit:  Anmsportsacademy.com

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The post Scoop B: A&M Sports Academy Preps NYC Kids For Life, Hosts Fundraiser With NBA’er Derek Anderson As Keynote appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.

Derek Anderson may be an NBA champion as a member of the Miami Heat, an NCAA National Champion as a Kentucky Wildcat and a published author, but guess what?

You can add shoe designer to his resume!

While chatting with the A&M Sports Academy during their March Madness Fundraiser, Saturday in Manhattan, Anderson, who has a lifetime contract with the Jordan Brand, mentioned to folks in attendance that he helped in the design of the low top version of the Air Jordan XI sneaker.

After his keynote speech, Scoop B Radio Overtime got the skinny on the particulars of that design process.

“I was sitting in the office with Michael Jordan,” Anderson told me on Scoop B Radio Overtime. “We were all sitting at the table. I was used to playing in low cuts, so I told him, ‘Can’t we cut these shoes off? He looked at me and was like: ‘What?’ And I was like: ‘I just wanna cut that shoe off, I like these in a low cut. He said: ‘Let’s try it.’ We tried it and we came up with a low cut shoe and I’ve been wearing low cut ever since.”

Check Out Derek Anderson and Brandon ‘Scoop B’ Robinson the Air Jordan 11 sneaker

 

Anderson was one of the first Jordan Brand signees when MJ decided to make current players ambassadors of that shoe company. That exclusive list included athletes like Eddie Jones, Ray Allen, Vin Baker and  Derek Jeter. Today it has expanded by leaps and bounds with athletes like Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Carmelo Anthony, Joe Johnson, C.C. Sabathia and Blake Griffin.

Any chance Derek Anderson has a top three favorite Jordan shoe? “I don’t have a top three Jordan,” he said. I played in everything. Everything low cut. But to me, 3, 4s and 11s.”

Anderson was the 13th pick in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers. He’d play ten years in the league where he’d average 12 points a game playing for the Portland Trail Blazers, Charlotte Bobcats, Houston Rockets, San Antonio Spurs, Los Angeles Clippers and Miami Heat.

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The post Retired NBA Vet Derek Anderson Convinced Michael Jordan to Make Air Jordan XI’s a Low Top Sneaker appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.