<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">The push around town to bring back Nick Anderson -- the first face of the Magic as their first draft pick -- keeps growing legs. Anderson, the first Magic draft pick in 1989 and still the all-time leading scorer, had his unsavory moments during his 10 years in Central Florida but still left behind a feeling that he cared about the people in Orlando who were often troubled and less fortunate. Over the years, kids have been in awe of Magic players such as Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway. They idolized guys such as Tracy McGrady, but it was Anderson who related to them the best. He was the one who got down and talked on their level. "We need Nick back in town, we really do," said Diane Walker, a disposition specialist for the Juvenile Division of the Orange County Public Defender's Office. "He always loved the kids in this community. And they knew that." It's for selfish reasons that Walker wants the Magic to create a community relations role for Anderson. She wants to put him to work. She works every day with youths who have gotten into trouble -- but she believes young people can be helped by sports figures such as Anderson. "Even though he's been gone for a while, when you ask these kids -- and every one of them loves basketball -- who their favorite player is or was, they still say, 'Nick Anderson,' " Walker said. "I remember when he was here, he would talk to these kids, and they listened. He could head a mentoring program that would be wonderful for this community."</div> Source and more
Let's just hope he isn't the Free Throw coach. Ok I couldn't resist. Seriously though, I would love to see Nick Anderson back in town. He is a historic figure in this franchise and with him and Brian Hill back it would be like a honoring our past. Another cool thing would be to get Penny Hardaway back but only if he takes a paycut.
Pennys my fav. Magic player of all time and Nick Anderson is my second so having both of them back would be a dream. Nick Anderson coming back and we retire his Jersey.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting FlaBoy:</div><div class="quote_post">Nick Anderson coming back and we retire his Jersey.</div> I hope that's going to happen. I would love to see him coming back, not particularly as a coach but as someone in the front office, just like the article suggests someone who's responsible for community work / relationships, something like that. As for retiring his jersey, I think he truly deserves to be the first player who got his jersey retired by us. As for favorite player, well he's in my top three, along with Armstrong and Penny, closely followed by Hill.
