NBA Champion Spurs' Draft Pick Returns to Bergen Roots

Written By Caitlin Brown

Longtime Fairview resident and now first-round NBA draft pick, Kyle Anderson, got his first taste of what it is like to be a hometown hero when he visited young campers at the Most Blessed Sacrament School in Franklin Lakes last week.

Anderson, 20, used to camp at the school as a child, making it an even more fitting setting for his first appearance speaking in front of young fans.

“This is just really my first chance of getting to give back to the kids, just giving them a standpoint of where I came from and how I came up to get to where I am today,” Anderson said, according to northjersey.com.

Anderson reminded the children, who were chanting his name and taking pictures with cell phones, that they should always “thank their parents for giving them the opportunity to attend a camp and play the game he loved, and hoped they did too.”

A poster of Anderson that was taken while he was an eighth-grader hangs on the wall of the gym. At that time, Anderson was the top-ranked basketball player in the country in his age group. He went on to play at Paterson Catholic High School, St. Anthony and UCLA for two seasons.

Anderson, a first-team All-Pac-12 selection and third-team Associated Press All-America pick following the 2013-14 season, was the closest player in the nation to nearly average a triple-double last season with 14.6 points, 8.8 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game. He helped UCLA win the program’s first Pac-12 tournament title and reach the NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16 first the fist time since 2008.

The 6-foot-9 Anderson was drafted last month in the first round by the defending NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

Photo courtesy of UCLABruins.com