Christian Anderson Not Lacking Skill, or Confidence: 'I Think I’m Gifted Offensively'

It’s never easy to find the kind of character archetype in the NBA that fits the mold of confident, humble, and a good teammate all at the same time.

I’d say at this point, three drafts into the Hornets’ new regime and following Charlotte’s selection of G Christian Anderson from Texas Tech, it’s fair to say Jeff Peterson and his staff have a knack for finding those guys.

In fact, I may have heard somewhere or another that they have an internal moniker for it.

Anderson fits that Hornets DNA to a tee, just like his former German national teammate and Charlotte’s No. 14 selection, Hannes Steinbach.

“You know both of those guys (Steinbach, Anderson), again, they're certainly not finished products,” Jeff Peterson said Tuesday night. “They're still young, they're going to continue to get better, because they're about the right things: They work, they put the time in, they want to be great. They both played, you know, on a big stage this year in various games, and, like I said, on the national team, so they certainly bring that aspect (to our team).”

Most notably, Christian Anderson’s Tech team beat the Duke Blue Devils in Madison Square Garden almost solely on the back of Anderson’s scoring. I’ve seen complaints about some of the things that looked rough around tournament time, but on March 12 against Iowa State in the Big 12 Tournament, Anderson suffered a groin injury that truly hindered him during Texas Tech’s biggest stretch of the year.

ESPN reported that Anderson slipped on an “experimental glass floor” that the Big 12 was using during the conference tournament.

Yahoo Sports reported a week later, on March 19th, that Anderson was “close to 100%.” I’m not sure I’ve ever seen someone come close to a 100% recovery from a groin strain in seven days’ time.

It took God seven days to make the heavens and the Earth in the Bible, and you’re telling me Anderson recovered from a groin strain in that same time frame?

Let’s be real (obvious like that red herring was).

In all seriousness, though. The fact that it was reported so quickly that he was close to 100% told me that Anderson was doing absolutely everything in his power to come back and help his team. Not that I’m asking a guy to put his health on the line, but let’s be honest.

That’s the kind of guy you want on your team. You want your players to have that yearning to play despite pain, circumstance, whatever it may be. That’s exactly who Christian Anderson is at his core.

“Being there (at Texas Tech) and being asked to have that level of (a) role, I feel like it just prepared me for not being afraid of pressure,” Anderson said. “I just feel like everything that I bring is: Obviously, my offensive skill set, pick and rolls, you know, shooting on and off the dribble. I feel like I can space the floor just as good as I can make plays for my teammates. I play both roles, and I pride myself on being plug-and-play. So, playing in any type of situation I'm asked to play in, I feel like I can do it, and I adapt really fast, and (I'm) just a person who's willing to do anything it takes to, you know, win and do all the little things; whatever the coach asked me to do, I'll do it without any problems. So, just a willing, determined player, that's, you know, in my opinion: I think I'm gifted offensively.”

I can’t put Anderson’s demeanor while he gave this quote into context via print, but go watch it on the Hornets YouTube channel. You hear the humble, quiet yet also confident tone when you listen to this quote specifically; it’s that rare mix of character traits I referred to in the lede showing itself in all its colors.

He’s also a southern kid through and through as a native of Atlanta, GA. It’s not often – as Mitch Kupchak and others reminded us often – that you find players who love the city of Charlotte. Anderson is the exception. While not from the Carolinas, a high-level AAU player from the southeast inevitably finds themselves in Charlotte and Rock Hill for the travel circuit all the time.

Anderson often played in Rock Hill and with Team CP3 Charlotte during his AAU days, he told the media.

“I got a lot of love for Charlotte,” Anderson said. “But yeah, it's close to home, too. I'm from Atlanta originally, so it wasn't even a far drive, and I used to drive down here (to Charlotte). I remember in, like, I want to say 10th grade, ninth grade, like every single weekend (I'd drive from Atlanta to Charlotte) to come to practice, you know, probably three hours, but I love the city, I think it's beautiful. I think it's like one of the best cities. I compare it to Atlanta all the time. It's just the whole vibe and the whole feel is amazing.”

Anderson gets brownie points from me on that front.

While undersized for what (I believe) projects to be a combo-guard and not a true-blue point guard… he wasn’t lying when he said he was gifted offensively.

There wasn’t a zone beyond the arc in his last season at Texas Tech where he shot below 35.7%. I (regrettably) didn’t have Anderson on my big board, but it was more out of that very size concern. Christian would tell you himself, though, that I’m far from the first to make that a known worry about his future potential.

But honestly? I tend to believe in the kid from Atlanta. He’s been doubted at every level he’s played at; he was outside of the top 100 recruiting rankings on several major recruiting services coming out of high school.

He was a top-20 NBA pick in the most universally agreed “loaded draft” I’ve seen… maybe in my entire lifetime. Well, I was alive in 2003.

I was three. Sorry for those of you who I severely aged with that completely unnecessary personal fact just now. But I’m closer to 30 than 20. I can only make these jokes for so many more years. Give me a break. Anyways.

Anderson wasn’t just a first-round selection despite missing on the top-100 ranking.

He was a top-20 pick despite that very same size knock he’s always heard. He knows how to move off the ball as well as anyone in this draft, and has maybe the quickest release of any draft prospect this year.

Anderson is past caring about those knocks anymore. He’s proved himself, but that won’t stop him from pushing his game even further at all costs.

I gave Anderson the opportunity to acknowledge his potential doubters – of the selection, his game, whatever you want to choose – during his post-draft press conference:

“I, you know, I’ve always been doubted, and I've always been that so-called underdog,” Anderson said. “I've always performed every single (place) I went (regardless). But you know they're (the Hornets are) getting, You know, in my opinion: Best shooter in the draft, the best pick and roll player in the draft, and just a guy who's really, really determined to make anything happen. And (I'm) somebody who will lay it all out for this organization to succeed and give my best, best effort 100% of the time, and, yeah. I'm going to keep getting better; even if things aren't going smooth, you know, I'll always be a person that this organization can count on to represent us in the best light (in) every single moment.”

Anderson spoke incredibly highly of the team’s meetings with him overall and added, during his availability, that he told his agent, his family, and anyone he could, essentially, that Charlotte was his favorite interview at the combine.

I’m sure Christian would have had the aforementioned work ethic he spoke of regardless of whether he was drafted elsewhere.

But – and now I’m talking to you all reading at home – what kind of job environment do YOU all prefer to work in?

The one where you have to give these answers because you have to? Or the one where you say things like Anderson did about the Hornets because he wanted to?

He would’ve said the same thing regardless. You all would’ve gone to work regardless of which camp you landed in, too.

But if you fall in the latter category of “wanting to” say good things about your new employer…

You’re always going to give just that extra *smidge* of effort that you wouldn’t have otherwise. Sometimes you don’t even notice it. But things like that matter mentally for young players. We hear analysts, teams, and players themselves talk about going into the right situation as a rookie as one of, if not the, biggest factors in how your career plays out.

I think landing in Charlotte gives Anderson the highest ceiling based on how he spoke about the team, the city, and players like Kon Knueppel.

I followed up my doubters' question from earlier with Anderson to ask him about Kon, and how he could learn from Charlotte’s second-place finisher in Rookie of the Year voting; Anderson isn’t going to be the only elite shooter on this team next year, with the NBA’s league-leader in three-point makes last season on the same roster as him.

But that’s exactly what you want if you ARE a self-proclaimed elite shooter like Anderson is.

“Yeah, obviously (Kon Knueppel) had a great rookie season. You know, (he) probably should have won rookie of the year,” Anderson said in response. “But you know, like you said, he's a great shooter, and he's always been like the guy who has -- even in EYBL -- he was like the leading scorer, and I've always, you know, even if he might not know it, always had to kind of see (Knueppel), you know, kind of shooting better than me a little bit. So I just want to see how he gets his shots off, how his mind works, and pick his brain on things that he did in order to, you know, make an instant impact in the NBA. But he's a great player, and you know he's always been a great player. So, you know, I'm just excited to get to Charlotte, get to know him, and yeah, like I said, just pick his brain on things that would help me, and would help the team.”

Anderson is walking into the same development system that helped Kon flourish so quickly, and while the opportunity may not be quite the same in terms of playing time in year one for Anderson, he was admittedly happy to be walking into a team that prioritizes the growth of its young players.

“Yeah, super important (to be part of a team that invests in young talent),” Anderson said. “I think, you know, just coming into a team that's trying to win and also investing in their young players and trying to find the right people to go and win championships with I feel like was super important. I think this organization does a really good job with that, especially with, you know, guys like Kon (Knueppel), and you know, Sion (James) like those type of guys, guys who just came in as rookies and got on court and made an impact. So, I feel like the development here is super great, but also the ability to try to win games, at the end of the (last) season it was uphill (momentum for Charlotte), so yeah, can't wait to keep trending that way.”

Anderson, along with Hannes Steinbach, is scheduled to have their first in-person press conference tomorrow afternoon at the Spectrum Center.

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