Magic movers and shakers
Moncton signs one of the top point guards in the NBL of Canada
The expansion Moncton Magic has stolen the biggest star player from their biggest rival.
The Magic announced Monday that they’ve signed Anthony Anderson, the all-time leading scorer in the National Basketball League of Canada.
The five-foot-11 guard played the past six seasons for Saint John’s franchise, which began as the Mill Rats and later changed its team name to Riptide.
Anderson is the NBL Canada’s career scoring leader with 4,144 points. The native of Massachusetts was named the league’s MVP in 2013-14 and he’s also the league’s all-time leader in assists (1,185), threepoint field goals (441), free throws made (935) and games played (197).
“I’ve known Anthony for a long time, before this league even existed, and we’ve always had a good relationship. This has been a lengthy process, something we worked on for three weeks, so you can imagine how thrilled we were to finally get this deal done,” said Moncton head coach and general manager Joe Salerno.
“He is the most prolific scorer this league has ever seen. He not only has the ability to score the ball almost at will, but he also makes everyone around him a better player. It’s very rare to find a player who can do both of those things and he has been doing it consistently for years.”
Anderson was a member of the NBL Canada’s first or second all-star team in each of the past six seasons. Last season, he led the league in scoring for a fourth time with an average of 23.05 points per game and he also averaged 6.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game.
The Magic will open their inaugural training camp on Nov. 3 and they will have an intrasquad game on Nov. 8 at 7 p.m. at Crandall University. Tickets can be purchased at the door for $5, with proceeds going to Crandall University athletics.
Anderson was a thorn in the Moncton Miracles’ side the past six seasons while he played for Saint John. Now, he will be a Moncton fan favourite.
“It will be a little different being on the opposite side of the 506 rivalry, but it should be fun” he said. “Joe is a great coach, we have signed a bunch of talented guys and I’m just super excited to get to Moncton and get started.”