‘Birdman’ is back
Former Heat center part of Big3 pro tour
Chris Andersen to play AA Arena on Friday.
MIAMI — Birdman is about to take flight again at AmericanAirlines Arena.
A little bit older, but every bit as exuberant.
“I certainly did enjoy my time there,” Chris “Birdman” Andersen said Tuesday in advance of his Friday night appearance with the halfcourt Big3 pro tour at his former MiamiHeat home court. “Itwas special.”
And unique, from the time the mohawk-wearing (sometimes) and tattoo-covered (all the time) center arrived in the middle of the 2012-13 season, through the Heat’s 2013 NBA championship and until his trade to the Memphis Grizzles in 2016.
“I’m always going to be me,” he said, now 40, but still just as Birdzilla buoyant. “Just having those experiences down there, that you don’t forget. Taking Udonis [Haslem] out there gator hunting for the first time. The Harlem Shake, sharing that video with all the guys, having that camaraderie to create a memorable video that was an Internet sensation. That was pretty epic.”
And not a regret from arguably the most colorful chapter of a most colorful career.
“Sometimes I take it a little too far,” he said with the laugh of a 40-year-old about his 30-something self. “I try to hold the reins back a little bit on myself and try not to go too far. But
that’s just my M.O. I take it too far sometimes. It either gets me in trouble or it benefits me. It doesn’t weigh too heavy onme. It’s justme beingme.”
It is that comfort within his, um, wings, that delivered him to the weekly circuit operated by entertainment impresario Ice Cube.
As well as the belief that the ride is not over yet, even after the devastating torn ACL he suffered on Dec. 16, 2016, while back alongside Harlem Shake co-conspirator LeBron James with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
It iswhy he said there are nights such as Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“That’s one thing about the Big3, it’s an extraordinary platform for guys who are trying to get back to the league or trying to get overseas, not only for playing but also for coaching,” he said. “The opportunities are endless what it can provide for guys inmy situation.
“Forme, I toremyACLin Cleveland in 2016 and have been doing the whole rehabilitation over ’17. And I’m not going to let that tell me I’m done. I’m definitely trying to make my way back into the league. And if not, overseas is a good option. But getting back into the league is my main objective.”
That has him on similar ground to fellow Big3 competitor and former Heat teammate Amar’e Stoudemire, who also will be on the court Friday at AmericanAirlines Arena.
“There’s nothing easy about it,” Andersen said of Big3 competition that includes such recent NBAlevel players as Carlos Boozer, DrewGooden, Nate Robinson and DeShawn Stevenson. “There’s no standing still, just getting a rebound. You’ve got to get past the 3-point line, run a play. All that time, the shot clock is running down.
“You have to show still can move laterally horizontally.”
Just as he did as a critical component to the Heat’s 2013 championship and the team’s run back to the 2014 NBA Finals.
“It’s always great to come back to South Florida. It’s home,” he said, regularly training in the area in recent months amid his comeback bid. “To win a championship in this city, with the Miami Heat, it was an incredible. This has always been considered a home for me.”
In the end, theNBA’s luxury tax forced the divorce, as did the emergence of Hassan Whiteside.
Now, amid uneven times for Whiteside, Andersen said he hopes his former teammate can find his way back to a better place, just as he did after early career travails.
“I mean everybody’s going to have their issues and have their times in their lives where they’re going back and forth, with their self or with their game or with their professional life,” Andersen said. “You don’t know what they’re going through. Whatever he’s going through, I hope they can figure it out. He got back into the league, proved himself, got his money. It’s a matter of him being happy.” you and
iwinderman@ sunsentinel.com. Follow him at twitter.com/iraheatbeat or facebook.com/ ira.winderman