Chris Andersen (born July 7, 1978 in Long Beach, California) is a former NBA basketball player. His swooping dunks, shot-blocking skills and rare athleticism for his size earned him the nickname "The Birdman". Andersen is also the owner of a number of large tattoos, mainly on his arms. He was banished from the league in 2006 for violating the league's drug policy. July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 177 days remaining. ... 1978 (MCMLXXVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (the link is to a full 1978 calendar). ... County Los Angeles County, California Area  - Total  - Water 170. ... The National Basketball Association of the United States and Canada, commonly known as the NBA, is the premier professional basketball league in North America. ... Sara Giauro shoots a three-point shot, FIBA Europe Cup for Women Finals 2005 Basketball is a sport in which two teams of five players each try to score points by throwing a ball through a hoop (the basket) under organized rules. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Andersen grew up in Iola, Texas and was undrafted following a career at Blinn College (he originally dropped out of the University of Houston). He began his professional career in the NBDL, going on to play for the Denver Nuggets and the New Orleans Hornets. There are a few places named Iola in the United States: Iola, Illinois Iola, Kansas Iola, Pennsylvania Iola, Wisconsin Iola (town), Wisconsin This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Official language(s) None. ... Blinn College is a two-year academic institution with campuses in Bryan, Texas, Brenham, Texas, Schulenburg, Texas, and Sealy, Texas. ... Partial view of the University of Houston campus looking northwest to Downtown Houston The University of Houston, often called U of H or UH, is a comprehensive doctoral degree-granting university[1] located in Houston, Texas. ... The National Basketball Development League is the NBAs officially sponsored and operated developmental basketball organization. ... The Denver Nuggets are a National Basketball Association team based in Denver, Colorado. ... The New Orleans Hornets are a National Basketball Association team based in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The current head coach is Byron Scott. ...

The 6'10", 220lb Andersen showcased his athleticism in the NBA Slam Dunk Contest during NBA All-Star Weekend in 2004 and 2005. Infamously, in the 2005 contest, he missed his first eight attempts on his first dunk and his first five attempts on his second, drawing open laughter from the players on the sidelines and even ridicule from the TNT commentators. Bill Simmons of ESPN wrote, "A Pantheon performance on the Unintentional Comedy Scale by Chris Andersen....Looking back, I think the best part was that he started off the contest by telling the sideline reporter, 'It's time for the Birdman to fly.' Could somebody find me a time machine so I could travel back to the '80s and make that my high school yearbook quote?" The NBA Slam Dunk Contest was inaugurated in the ABA. This revolutionized the game of basketball at their all-star game in 1976 in Denver as they introduced the slam dunk contest. ... The National Basketball Association (NBA) holds its All-Star Weekend each February in a predetermined location. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The current TNT logo, was used in North America since June 12, 2001 and in Latin America since July 1, 2003 Turner Network Television, usually referred to as TNT, is a cable TV network created by media mogul Ted Turner in 1988. ... Bill Simmons (born 1969), best known as The Sports Guy, has been a columnist for Page2 on ESPN.com since 2001. ... ESPN (once an abbreviation for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ...

In 253 career games (including 8 starts), Andersen averaged 5.1 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in 16.6 minutes per game. His recent trademark had been his "Birdman" celebration, wherein he would cross his arms and flap his hands like the wings of a bird. This was usually done after scoring on an emphatic dunk.

On January 25, 2006, Andersen was disqualified from the NBA for violating the league's anti-drug policy by testing positive for illegal drugs. He is unable to apply for reinstatement without waiting the NBA league minimum of 2 years. Andersen is currently appealing the league's ruling through arbitration. [1] A Denver Post journalist called him "the most disgraced NBA player since the drug-induced haze of the '80s". [2] His suspension drew more jokes about the infamous dunk contest from fans and media, including Bill Simmons. [3] Arbitration is a form of mediation or conciliation, where the mediating party is given power by the disputant parties to settle the dispute by making a finding. ... The Denver Post is a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado. ...

External link

Chris Andersen's player profile at NBA.com