Derek Anderson, a member of the Charlotte Bobcats during the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 seasons, has been implicated in a cocaine trafficking scheme. An admitted murderer and drug dealer, Francois Cunningham told police “he’s just the money and he’s not going to get around any of it but, that’s who funnels the money.” That’s according to WAVE3.com; Anderson’s lawyer refutes all claims that Derek Anderson was involved saying he “denies being involved in any illegal activity;” in the Louisville Courier-Journal.
Anderson was on the tail end of his career when he reached the Charlotte Bobcats in 2006. Coming off of a championship to end his contract in Miami, he was solid in his time under Bernie Bickerstaff and I felt like a calming, strong veteran influence in that horrible season under Sam Vincent. He saw very little playing time under Vincent when there were much worse options, such as Jeff McInnis. Everyone knew Vincent wouldn’t make it another year and when the discussion came up about who would be the next coach, fans suggested DA, or at least make Derek Anderson an assistant coach under whoever was next. He was that well looked upon as an influential, sharp basketball-minded player that people were thinking of him as a head coaching candidate.
It was not to be so, as many things that fans dream up on message boards don’t. Derek had a lot of other interests. I remember a news story about Anderson owning a development company, had some building interests and was basically all over the place making money outside of basketball, even as his on the court career wound down. If you believe Basketball-Reference.com’s numbers, Anderson made over $58 million in his career. For anybody, that’s a ton of money, for a guy who grew up in public housing, that’s a whole ton of money and as we’ve seen forever, friends and family members come out of the woodwork to congratulate and also to see if they could get their hands on a bit of that fortune.
I hate to make it seem like that same old “poor kid makes money, poor friends rip him off, he gets in trouble with said friends,” but it seems to be the case. Derek Anderson is being implicated as the money man for a drug dealing scheme because he was friends with these guys. The guy who named DA is a two time killer, who is walking free because he’s naming names. If there were evidence to further indict Anderson, we’d be talking about an arrest here rather than just a drug dealer/killer naming him in an interrogation that was unsealed Monday.
I hate this whole thing, to be completely honest. Cunningham “admitting killing another man in 1997 who was found dead in the Outer Loop Landfill. He pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in that case and released from prison in September 2003.” according to the Courier-Journal. The pleas and the exchange of information for lesser sentences are absolutely ridiculous. You’ve seen “The First 48” A&E or any of the “Law and Order” shows and you know it happens, not that TV is any indicator of real life but it gives you an idea. For all we know, the police said “Hey, know any big names that are involved here, there’s 2 years off your sentence in it for every $10 million they’ve made in life.” I’m just saying, it makes me so pissed and is the perfect symptom to point to in this broken system we have in this country.
Ok, stepping off my soap box for a moment, DA was a great Bobcat in his short time in Charlotte. I thought he was one of the few things that held the team together in that Sam Vincent year and I just enjoyed the guy’s play and attitude. It’s a sad turn of events for him because it simply sullies his entire reputation and for all we know, since he retired he has been doing great things and this brings all that into question. As his lawyer says, DA has “thousands of friends and if he has one flaw, it is that he is extraordinarily loyal to his friends, especially people he grew up with.” But then again, “has purchased countless automobiles for his friends and family through the years and he has let his friends and family borrow his cars regularly.” Who loses track of how many cars they have bought for people or loaned them out? I mean Jay Leno knows how many cars he has.
Another reminder to young players, watch who you hang out with, watch who you loan money to, watch who you let drive your cars. I have been and will continue to be a Derek Anderson fan until he is indicted and convicted of a crime.
Andrew Barraclough is Senior Editor for RobertoGato.com, a Charlotte Bobcats Blog on theFansided Network. Follow him on Twitter @therobertogato and Like the site on Facebook.