ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — His life has changed significantly over the last six years.
Andrew Nicholson transitioned from the NBA, where he was the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft, to the Chinese Basketball Association, where he has once again become a star. He turned 30 two months ago tomorrow. He got engaged to longtime girlfriend Holly Ly.
There’s one thing, however, that hasn’t changed since his last visit to the Reilly Center, on Feb. 22, 2014, the day his No. 44 was raised to the rafters during a game against Rhode Island.
“I mean, the rims still love me,” he joked from inside the RC on Wednesday night, “so that’s good.”
In six years, Nicholson has jumped from Orlando, where he spent the first four seasons of a promising NBA career, to Washington, D.C., to Brooklyn, to three different towns, and teams, in China. Along the way, he accrued an initial $6 million with the Magic, signed a four-year, $26 million free agent deal in the summer of 2016 (of which he’ll continue to be paid in $2,444,429 annual installments by the Trail Blazers until 2023) and inked an initial contract worth around $1 million before his first season in China.
On Wednesday, though, his basketball journey brought him here: back to his second home.
His return to the RC, where in his final game he tallied 32 points and 14 rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure to a 98-93 double overtime win over Saint Joe’s in one of the most memorable home games in program history, was circumstantial. On Feb. 1, the CBA suspended its season indefinitely due to the rapidly spreading Wuhan coronavirus, and Nicholson needed to leave quickly before potentially being quarantined.
That allowed him to return to Bona, where he was recognized as an honorary captain prior to the Bonnies’ 72-47 win over George Washington and given his plaque as a member of the program’s All-Time Team.
As part of his trip back, Nicholson went to dinner with former coach Mark Schmidt on Tuesday night in Olean, got a workout in on Bob Lanier Court, where he displayed the same seemingly effortless footwork and touch that propelled him to Bona stardom, and delivered a pregame speech to the current team.
He also had time to interact with, and acknowledge, a fan base that continues to adore him to this day.
“Just being able to be on the floor and work out, just remembering being here was just amazing,” he said. “I went to dinner with Schmidt, saw a bunch of my old professors and a bunch of old friends here. It’s just good to be back here. It’s always good to be back.”
In a five-minute halftime interview, the 2012 Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and A-10 Tournament MVP, who sits No. 2 in Bona history in scoring, touched on an array of subjects, from his transition overseas to his thoughts on the Hickey Dining Hall (“The Hickey’s legendary, man,” he said.)
Nicholson said the switch to playing professionally in China has been a positive one. After five years of limited minutes in the NBA, he’s become “the man” again in the CBA, averaging at least 23 points and eight rebounds in all three seasons.
“It’s been great,” he said. “Wherever the ball takes me, I’m always going to go and try to be the best version of myself, playing the two different styles and being able to continue to play. I’m 30, so I want to keep playing as long as I can, and it’s just been a blessing.”
His myriad of fans maintain the 6-foot-9 forward never got a true shot to show what he could do in Orlando. This is a guy who was consistently among the most offensively efficient players in the league in the few windows where he did receive real playing time.
Perhaps deep down, Nicholson feels that way too.
But if he does, he won’t let on. He’s more than content to have gone from a role guy in the NBA — where he was still able to realize a dream and get paid — to actually getting to do what he does best.
“It feels great,” he said. “It’s fun, just doing the stuff I did (at Bona), doing it over there. The politics of the NBA is nothing I could really escape from, but it happens to the best of us. I got what I wanted out of them, so being able to continue to play over in China and see where my career is going to take me next is exciting.”
The Mississaugua, Ontario, native addressed his new lifestyle, saying: “It’s definitely different than being over here. At first, it was hard to adjust, but now I’ve picked up on the language a little bit, picked up on the culture. Just being able to embrace it has been making it easier for me over there.”
He also provided a thought on current star forward Osun Osunniyi, the Bonnies’ best big man prospect since Nicholson eight years earlier, observing, “he’s looking good. I know he’s had a couple of injuries; that’s an unfortunate part of the game. But he’s looking good, he’s doing well and I hope (Bona can keep it going).” He mentioned that he recently got to catch up with former teammate Matthew Wright, who plays only a two-hour flight away from Nicholson in Manila.
Of course, on this night, the conversation always came back to Bona.
“It’s amazing,” he said, when asked about the reception he received on Wednesday night. “I’m always living in hotels, bouncing, bouncing. But being able to be here, where I’ve been for so long, is like coming back home.”
(J.P. Butler, Bradford Publishing Company group sports editor, can be reached at jbutler@oleantimesherald.com)
