But Andersen would soon part with his money for all too different reasons. For the first time, his mother couldn't save him. During his first four seasons in the NBA, Andersen was known for his wildly athletic dunks and reckless intensity. Bryan Christopher Williams (né Brooks; February 15, 1969), better known by his stage name Birdman (also known as Baby), is an American rapper, record executive, and entrepreneur.He is the co-founder and public face of Cash Money Records which he founded with his older brother Ronald "Slim" Williams in 1992. What motivates billionaire sports owners to donate to political campaigns? 1978 births American basketball players Basketball players from Texas Power forwards (basketball) People from Long … Chris Andersen is a member of the following lists: 1978 births, American basketball players and Basketball players from Texas. A player reclining back on the bleachers chuckled dismissively and wondered aloud, "Where'd they find this guy?". The story of Chris "Birdman" Andersen, the NBA's wild child who pushed himself over the edge, cannot be separated from that of the woman who raised him as an extension of herself.

Shortly after his expulsion, he entered a rehab clinic and jettisoned his destructive friends.

Linda apologized to Drexler profusely. When she got to Denver, she found Andersen's finances in a mess. Despite his human eraser act, few colleges came calling because he wasn't cutting it in the classroom.

Venomous brown recluse spiders hovered in the corners of every room.

Chris was numb. The rowdy, shoulder-length blond locks cover his face, Cousin Itt-style.

But what he lacked in skill he made up for with a floor burn-inducing style of play and an arsenal of eccentricities that won over fans leaguewide. "All they did was love you, and you walked away from them. Linda always sent them off with blueberry cobbler made from fresh berries she picked in the pasture behind the house. He is known as ‘The Birdman’ and ‘The Father of Australian Ornithology’. 3 Baylor serve as a preview of spring NCAA volleyball championship? A life in which they didn't have to struggle. We are not ordering fries after we get married, babe.’”, The R&B singer-songwriter added they’re still trying to find a happy medium that will suit both their tastes. Chris Andersen (Birdman) is the best NBA player alive, one day i sure wish i could meet him. It was the spectacular finale to a downward spiral that began the moment Andersen scribbled his name on an official contract.

Chris spotted him and began to run toward the car.

He says he didn't shed a single tear after his banishment. That's the second thing you notice, the jolting-but-refreshing blend of unpolished Southern charm, blue-collar ethos and childlike enthusiasm that has endeared him to everyone from his hip-hop-loving teammates to the workaday, F-150-driving sports fan. This is what they dreamed about. However, in … We have no records of past relationships for Chris Andersen. He would sit on the back of his Hog and let Linda work the clutch and throttle as they burned up the interstate. They set up a makeshift, one-room apartment amid the hay and horseflies, across from the stalls and chicken coops.

The first thing you notice about Chris Andersen is the hair.

Then we said, ‘Ok, we don’t want it too small,’” she said. She would never have to lend him money for groceries or co-sign for another car again.

Linda was big on protection. news, She scraped together tip money to travel to the far side of the world to watch him play basketball in gyms so smoky her glasses would fog up. He didn't have the courage to call his mother and break the news. "What the hell did he say?"

But Andersen didn't care, because he was in the NBA and the money was flowing. Linda says Claus promised to build her and the kids a house, and said maybe they'd raise some cattle. Chris Palmer has been a frequent contributor to ESPN The Magazine and ESPN.com's NBA coverage since 1999. And they had done it together. And she holds out hope that her son will buy her the house he once promised.

Hornets coach Byron Scott blew his whistle signaling the end of practice. He didn't take into consideration that the team still had two more stops before returning to Denver.

There was no discernible pattern to his spending, except that it was full tilt. ", (Two days later Linda would say they haven't seen each other since he lived in Denver.). For almost his entire life they had been inseparable.

"He'll wear it with anything, but that's just Bird.".

I’m fine with that,” she clarified. Yup, no place like Iola. There was a bar bill for $900. "I tried to eat it," says Andersen.

Anything except get drafted. Andersen had never received any formal money-management training from the league. Former NBA star Chris “Birdman” Andersen earned his nickname through a spiked mohawk, dunks, tattoos, and lengthy wingspan. The first complete NBA game he saw was from the Nuggets' bench two days later.

Linda hammered together a makeshift wooden street sign on which she painted the words Bluebonnet Lane, named after the Texas state flower. He mashes the gas when he drove through a shallow puddle, causing the rear end of the car to pitch sideways as a mushroom cloud of smoke rises from the pavement. He hadn't developed any real moves to speak of, and even a 10-foot pull-up jumper was ill-advised for him. Well, Birdman is a well-known American rapper, record producer and also a businessman. Then it dawned on Linda what had just happened: Claus moved the family to rural Texas to escape California's strict alimony and child-support laws, she says. Linda was miffed when one of them got the idea to drive one state over to buy illegal fireworks one summer. When asked if he shared his ordeal with his mother, he drifts off and quickly tries to redirect the conversation. He began to develop a rep as a hard partier. Crowing roosters woke them every morning at dawn. "I've partied with the best of them myself," she says. But it's obvious it's not the house that's making her cry. Outside, a garden hose and spigot made showering possible. When she searched the Internet for his name, she would find signed Nuggets gear he gave to his friends on auction Web sites. Hooters is as good a place as any for Andersen to recall the unlikely story of a self-proclaimed redneck who never had much of a plan yet still ended up the league's most eccentric cult figure of a ramblin' man. Though she found work as a short order cook, a janitor and a door-to-door "Avon lady," she couldn't keep up. "I know this doesn't last forever. Just two games into the inaugural season, Andersen became the first-ever D-League call-up when the Nuggets signed him to a one-year, $289,747 contract on Nov. 21, 2001.

Scott had started to suspect something when Andersen regularly began missing practices and shootarounds.

A week later, Claus was gone. "Imagine taking a guy who had only ever been out of Texas twice and putting him in the middle of China," says Andersen with a grin.

An improbable journey from the backwoods of Texas, where kids are more likely to get hooked on meth than play AAU ball, had reached its end point. If he just helped her pay for her meds, that would be enough. The incessant clinking from dime-sized June bugs that recklessly ricochet off the patio's tin roof make it sound like it's hailing.

When she was 8, her father put her behind the wheel of his '54 Chevy and taught her to navigate winding mountain roads.

He didn't know you had to officially apply for the draft, not just declare.

Brea Lynn. Help keep Chris Andersen profile up to date. We had a great date, but ten it was getting too big and we didn’t want a big wedding. "Freshly squeezed.".