Justin Anderson’s toughest test yet … the piano
Posted on Tuesday, Apr. 21, 2020, 5:29 pm
Follow Jerry Ratcliffe on Twitter
Advertising inquiries: Connect with us
Email Jerry Ratcliffe: jratcliffe7000@gmail.com
By Jerry Ratcliffe
Photo: ridiculousupside.com
Basketball has always been easy for Justin Anderson. His newest challenge, though … not so much.
During the pandemic lockdown, Anderson has rented a lake house in Virginia. Sitting in the corner of the living area of the house is a Suzuki piano, which was just sitting there collecting dust until Anderson became curious.
“I thought I might as well put this to use,” Anderson said during a recent appearance on The Jerry Ratcliffe Show on ESPN-Charlottesville radio. So the former UVA basketball star downloaded the “Simply Piano” app, which was designed to teach him the keys and how to play.
“People are going to hear this and they’re going to be, ‘Oh, great for him,’” Anderson said. “But what they don’t know is that it has not been going great for me [in terms of mastering music].”
Anderson, who was playing for the Brooklyn Nets’ G-League affiliate in Long Island when the season came crashing down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, has been attacking the piano challenge just as if he were playing in the NBA playoffs.
“It has been frustrating but it’s something that I’m sticking to,” Anderson chuckled. “My competitive spirit won’t let me leave it alone. Hopefully when this virus is passed over and everyone is coming out of the pandemic on top, maybe I’ll play a song for everybody on Instagram.”
As host of the show, I told Anderson that perhaps once he learned to play piano, he could entertain his teammates just as former UVA player Frankie Badocchi used to do, and as Rick Carlisle did back in the 1980s when he was a Wahoo.
Carlisle, of course, has been head coach of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks for quite some time and has casually played piano alongside good friend and UVA basketball fan Bruce Hornsby from time to time.
“Rick is actually quite good,” Anderson said. “I remember one night when I was a [Dallas] rookie, Rick called me over to his house. He wanted me to watch film with him and he wanted to pick my mind on a few things.
“He tells me to come up the elevator, which empties right into his place. He was playing the piano. I was like, ‘Are you serious? You can fly a plane. You can coach a championship team, and play the piano. What can you not do?’”
Anderson wants to play, but never expects to be able to match Carlisle’s piano skills.
“Unfortunately, unlike Rick, I might receive tomatoes if I start playing piano in front of my team,” Anderson laughed.
Knowing his intensity, he’ll find a way to nail this skill, even though he said it’s so challenging right now that sometimes he just buries his head into his folded arms across the keyboard.
Patience, grasshopper!
