What’s He Up To? James Anderson Edition

I don’t know if this will be a weekly thing, but I had an inkling this week to check in on former Big 12 Player of the Year James Anderson. Last I knew Anderson was playing for David Blatt in Turkey following a season with the Sacramento Kings. So I dug into the Googles to find out what No. 23 is doing these days. As it turns out … quite a lot.

Anderson is part of the Turkish club Dogus Darussafaka in Istanbul under Blatt. European teams often play in two leagues at the same time (think: European soccer), and Anderson’s squad is currently in fourth place in their Turkish Basketball Super League (the top league in Turkey) and finished 8th in the EuroLeague and lost to Real Madrid 3-1 in Round 1.

Statistics are hard to come by, but it seems like Anderson averaged 8 points a game in the EuroLeague playing alongside Scottie Wilbekin (Florida), Will Clyburn (Iowa State) and Luke Harangody (Notre Dame). The league leader in points was Keith Langford (Kansas) with 22 a game.

Luke Harangody, @JA_Five 'a rağmen yarın herkesi @RMBaloncesto maçında destek olmaya çağırıyor! #SıraBizde #BizDaçkayız #GameON #DDIRMB pic.twitter.com/tMjOMvyYW7

— Darüşşafaka Basket (@dackabasket) April 25, 2017

Anderson, who is averaging 9 a game in the Turkish Basketball Super League recently did an interview with EuroHoops.net. The translation from Turkish to English is a mess, but it actually makes it pretty funny to think about Anderson (or any American) speaking like this.

“(Team unity) is one of our finest features as a team,” said Anderson. “We are always closing each other’s exploits, and when the unit is bad, the others are always there to lift it. As you say, our team chemistry is so high, we can always joke and laugh at each other. If it was a long season and everyone was separate, your business would be very difficult if you were away from each other as a team. The chemistry we have as a team is really tremendous.”

Anderson seems to be thriving in Turkey and is playing for one of the premiere teams in all of Europe which is a nice consolation prize for not making a roster in the NBA. He hit this game-winner back in March and is trying to help Dogus Darussafaka capitalize on their semifinals postseason run in the Turkish Basketball Super League last year as this season winds down.

.@dackadogus @JA_Five 'dan galibiyeti getiren üçlük… ☄️? pic.twitter.com/fDGTAx2BZ5

— Basketbol Süper Ligi (@basketsuperligi) March 13, 2017

.@JA_Five won’t be stopped! After having his layup blocked, the @dackadogus knocks down a turnaround jumper! #DDIRMB #7DAYSMagicMoment pic.twitter.com/OeeWz5HmeN

— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) April 28, 2017

Antrenman sonunda yine bir @JA_Five klasiği! ??? pic.twitter.com/7gIFCPg09A

— Darüşşafaka Basket (@dackabasket) April 17, 2017

Anderson’s current contract runs through next summer.