BBL Championship: Nomadic Aaron Anderson feels at home with Sheffield Sharks

The wanderer has quickly settled into his latest surroundings after arriving in England last month to begin life as an import player with the Sheffield Sharks and already has three double-doubles to his name.

Two of those have come against the Manchester Giants, who Sheffield get their BBL Championship season underway against at Ponds Forge on Friday (7:30pm tip-off).

"Everything is going well,” he told The Star.

"Everybody speaks English so I’m able to navigate my way around. The people here are very nice and welcoming and my teammates made it an easy transition.”

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Travelling frequently has plenty of perks, especially when you are also getting paid to do something you love, but Anderson admits such a nomadic lifestyle isn’t all the Instagram posts would have you believe.

“It’s a challenge because each year you are going to a different culture and experiencing things off the court,” he said.

“The basketball takes care of itself but it’s things off the court.

"I just take it year by year, I don’t have a preferred destination.”

For now, the experienced point guard, who hails from Minnesota, has settled in Ecclesfield and already has a tenant: new Sharks signing Rodney Glasgow.

Despite not playing together long, the chemistry between the Sharks’ 2021/22 team off the court has helped to create a special bond between them, according to Anderson.

He said: “We all hang out with each other. On most teams you just hang out with a few teammates, this has that family atmosphere, just playing video games and cracking jokes, playing card games on the coach.

"I have been on teams like this before and it created good success.

"We want to bring one of the competitions back to Sheffield, that’s the only goal. If we can get all three that would be great.”

Sheffield concluded the BBL Cup North Group with a 4-4 record to see them through to the quarter-final but were beaten twice in as many meetings by Friday’s opponents in that competition.

“We’re looking forward to Friday,” Anderson added, “we need to redeem ourselves.

"We’re going to have great energy for that game.”