Anthony Bowie

Anthony Lee Bowie (born November 9, 1963) is an American basketball player. He is a former NBA shooting guard, most renowned for his stint with the Orlando Magic. With the Magic, Bowie became one of the top bench players, often stepping in to provide spark and energy, timely baskets, and defensive stops. He is currently an Elementary School P.E coach

Career

Bowie was selected in the third round (66th overall pick) of the 1986 NBA Draft by the Houston Rockets out of the University of Oklahoma. After he bounced around in Europe and in several minor leagues, playing for the Rockets in the 1986 and 1987 pre-season games and for the New Jersey Nets during the 1988 pre-season, he debuted in the NBA with the San Antonio Spurs in 1989. After the end of the 1988-1989 season, San Antonio re-signed him and traded him for cash to the team that drafted him, the Rockets, where he played 66 games that season.

He spent 1990-1991 season in Italy with Ranger Varese. During the 1991 off-season he played for the Chicago Bulls. Later in the 1991-1992 season, Bowie was signed by the Orlando Magic during a West Coast road trip, and he remained with the team for five seasons. His tenure with the Magic was his most productive. Along with Donald Royal, Bowie provided the Magic with a spark off the bench, and was often used to guard the opponent's top offensive player. He was also good at hitting the jump shot, and could also hit the three-pointer. He was also with magic in 1995 NBA Finals.

He returned to Italy to play for Stefanel Milano in the 1996-1997 season. In January 1998, Bowie joined the New York Knicks and played 27 games for them in the 1997-1998 season.

Then he returned to Europe, where he won Euroleague with Lithuanian team BC Žalgiris in 1999. Then he played in the Greek A1 League with AEK Athens BC, winning both the Saporta Cup and the Greek Cup in 2000. From January to June 2001, he played in Italy again for Paf Bologna, he played in the Italian League final series, which Paf lost to Kinder Bologna.

After that season, he retired from playing basketball. In 2003, Bowie was named head coach of the Bishop Moore High School basketball team, a private school in Orlando.

The triple-double

Bowie is most remembered for his triple-double, in which he had 20 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists. In the NBA, a triple-double is a rare accomplishment, and even more so for a reserve. In a game versus the Detroit Pistons on March 9, 1996, with the Magic up big, Bowie realized that he needed a rebound and an assist for the feat. He knew that as a bench player, there probably wouldn't be another opportunity. There were only about four seconds left in the game, and after rebounding a Detroit miss, Bowie immediately called timeout, much to the chagrin of coach Brian Hill. Hill walked away from the huddle in disgust, and let Bowie dictate the play to his teammates. Bowie proceeded to set up a play so that he can catch the inbounds pass, and pass it to a player in a position for the shot.^[1]

On the other side, Detroit Pistons coach Doug Collins was also animated, and decided to pull his players from the game in protest of Bowie's poor sportsmanship. Since he could not actually bench the players, he ordered them to stand underneath the basket closest to the visitor's locker room. As Collins and his players looked on, Bowie took the inbounds pass, bounced it to a wide open David Vaughn near the basket, and he slammed it home for the tenth assist, and the triple-double. After the dunk, Bowie raced to the opposite end of the floor to apologize to Collins, but he was incredibly irate and wouldn't have any of it, and the Pistons rushed to the locker room.

During the post-game press conference, Hill called the whole incident embarrassing and shameful. Bowie, on the other hand, was excited about the accomplishment.

Nowadays, this incident is often mentioned every time a player has an opportunity to pad statistics for the sake of a personal goal. In 2003, Ricky Davis attempted to shoot at his own basket to complete a rebound for a triple-double.^[2] In 2004, Bob Sura of the Atlanta Hawks was denied his third consecutive triple-double by also attempting to shoot a deliberate bad shot in order to quickly retrieve his own rebound.^[3]

Notes

1. ↑ findarticles.com, Singling out a triple-double by Charlie Vincent, 1 April 1996
2. ↑ ESPN.com, Davis should be punished for showing up Jazz by David Aldridge
3. ↑ USA Today, NBA takes away Sura's triple-double by Roscoe Nance, 13 April 2004

External links

• AEK career@ aek.com
• Italian career@ legabasket.it
• Career statistics and player information from Basketball-Reference.com