KISSIMMEE, Fla. (AP) -Kenny Anderson was back on an NBA bench Wednesday, wearing a collared shirt and holding a notebook.
At 37, his playing days are over.
He hopes his coaching days are just beginning.
The former NBA guard and New York City high school great is an assistant coach this week for one of the six teams at the league’s predraft camp at the Disney complex near Orlando. Just like the players he’s coaching, Anderson is trying to catch the eye of NBA coaches and executives, looking to parlay this week’s exposure into a job at the next level.
“I love being on the sideline,” Anderson said. “I’m playing through them. I’ve got to calm down every now and then and remember that I’m in coaching now. I love it.”
Anderson was the coach of a CBA franchise in Atlanta this past season, plus works with an elite AAU team in South Florida, where he now resides. He played for nine NBA teams over a 14-year career after leaving Georgia Tech, finishing his pro days with averages of 12.6 points and 6.1 assists.
“It was my calling,” Anderson said.
Being a point guard, he was a coach on the floor. He thinks that experience can translate well to the sideline.
“In time, we’ll see what happens,” Anderson said.
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COMING UP: Thursday is the big day at predraft camp, without a single presumed lottery pick taking the court.
Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Kevin Love and others are all expected by the NBA to participate in interview sessions Thursday, ahead of their taking physicals on Friday to help teams in their evaluation processes.
The league identified 15 players as ones who would only have to take physicals at predraft camp and not play in the three scrimmage sessions. Beasley, Rose, Mayo, Love, Joe Alexander, Darrell Arthur, D.J. Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, Eric Gordon, Donte Greene, DeAndre Jordan, Brook Lopez, JaVale McGee, Anthony Randolph and Russell Westbrook are the names on the physicals-only list.
Danilo Gallinari almost certainly would have been on that list as well – but he’s not in central Florida this week. Gallinari’s Italian League team is still alive in the Euroleague postseason.
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HURTING: John Riek, the 7-foot-2 prep school player who hails from the Sudan and went to high school in Ethiopia before arriving in the United States less than two years ago, missed his team’s first game Wednesday because of ongoing problems with a stress fracture in his leg.
Riek, an 18-year-old who played this past season at Winchendon Prep in Massachusetts, is considered one of the top raw talents in this draft class – with some scouts saying he could possibly sneak into the bottom of the first round. He averaged 8.8 points and 7.9 rebounds at Winchendon.
Jamar Butler of Ohio State also missed Wednesday’s game with a right hamstring injury.
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HERE AND THERE: One interesting pairing from the six predraft team rosters has players from rival schools alongside one another: UCLA’s Luc Richard Mbah a Moute is on the same team with Southern California’s Davon Jefferson, who said he signed last week with mega-agent Arn Tellem and will stay in the draft. … Mike Taylor, who starred in the NBA Development League last year after being dismissed from Iowa State’s program, had a game-high 17 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead Team 6 over Team 5 in Wednesday’s opening game, 75-70. Colorado’s Richard Roby had 14 points and Ohio State’s Othello Hunter had 13 on 6-for-7 shooting for Team 5. … Gary Forbes from UMass scored 17 points as Team 2 beat Team 1 in the second game, 90-85. Kentucky’s Joe Crawford had 19 points for Team 1.
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