Chris Andersen

Christopher Claus Andersen (born July 7, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player.

Nicknamed "Birdman", Andersen was born in Long Beach, California, grew up in Iola, Texas, and played one year at Blinn College.

Andersen began his professional career in the Chinese Basketball Association and the American minor leagues.

He then played in the NBA for the Denver Nuggets and the New Orleans Hornets.

In 1982, when Andersen was four, his family moved to Texas, using a loan from the Texas Veterans Land Board to purchase a 10-acre plot in unincorporated Iola, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.

The Andersens then lived off the land, with Linda working in low-end jobs and relying on the help of neighbors and Linda's brother, who was a Navy supply boat captain.

During Andersen's middle school years, he and his siblings were sent to a group home in Dallas for three years.

During high school, Andersen was convinced to take up basketball by the varsity basketball coach, who said the sport could give him a chance at a college scholarship.

Andersen could not get the grades to attend the University of Houston, but went to Blinn College in Brenham, where the coach was the father of Andersen's high school coach.

He played one season with the Blinn Buccaneers, leading the National Junior College Athletic Association players in blocks.

Convinced that he could play professionally, Andersen dropped out of Blinn in 1999, not knowing he had to officially apply for the NBA draft to get picked up.

Andersen's high school coach arranged for him to play a series of exhibition games with the semi-professional Texas Ambassadors, and a game in China led Andersen to get an offer to join the Jiangsu Nangang Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association.

In March 2000, Andersen joined the New Mexico Slam of the International Basketball League where he averaged just 1.1 points and 1.6 rebounds in six regular-season games and four playoff games.

Later that year, Andersen joined the Dakota Wizards of the IBA but left before the season started.

He then joined the Fargo-Moorhead Beez also of the IBA where he played seven games before being released in January 2001.

After his stint in the IBA, Andersen joined the Sugarland Sharks of the Southwest Basketball League later on in 2001.

In July 2001, Andersen joined the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2001 NBA Summer League.

On September 28, 2001, he signed with the Phoenix Suns.

However, he was later waived by the Suns on October 7, 2001.

On October 31, 2001, he was selected with the first overall pick by the Fayetteville Patriots in the NBA Development League's inaugural draft.

Andersen became the first D-League player called up by an NBA team, signing with the Denver Nuggets on November 21, 2001 after just two games for Fayetteville.

He quickly became one of the top per-minute rebounders and shot-blockers in the league.

During the 2002 Rocky Mountain Revue, teammates Junior Harrington and Kenny Satterfield nicknamed Andersen "Birdman" for his arm span and penchant for aerial acrobatics.

On September 29, 2003, he re-signed with the Nuggets.

On July 19, 2004, Andersen signed a multi-year deal with the New Orleans Hornets.

He appeared in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during the 2005 All-Star Weekend for the second year in a row, where he unsuccessfully tried the same dunk eight times at the Pepsi Center.

Following the effects of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, the Hornets moved to Oklahoma City for the 2005–06 season and temporarily became the New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets.

In 2005–06, Andersen managed just 32 games (two starts), averaging 5.0 points and 4.8 rebounds per game.

On January 25, 2006, Andersen was disqualified from the NBA for violating the league's anti-drug policy by testing positive for a banned substance.

Andersen's suspension fell under the league's category of "drugs of abuse", violation of which is possible grounds for expulsion from the NBA under the league's collective bargaining agreement.

Andersen attempted to appeal the ruling through arbitration, but the arbitrator ruled to uphold his dismissal in March 2006.

He received a two-year ban from the NBA in 2006 for violating the league's drug policy, but was reinstated on March 4, 2008, and re-signed with the Hornets the next day.

He returned to Denver later in 2008, and remained with the team until 2012.

As Andersen waited for his reinstatement, effective January 2008, he was helped by a lawyer friend in Denver, Mark Bryant, who became his adviser.

Andersen spent a month in a rehab clinic in Malibu, worked out and coached a boys' basketball team in Denver.

On March 4, 2008, the NBA Players Association granted Andersen's request to be reinstated as an NBA player.

He signed with the Miami Heat in January 2013 and won a championship with them that same year.

He and Oliver Lafayette are the only Blinn students to ever play in the NBA.

He most recently played for Power in the Big3 league.

Andersen is the second of the three children of corrections officer and Danish immigrant Claus Andersen and Linda Holubec, a Tennessee native who worked as a waitress at the Port Hueneme naval base and played basketball in high school.