By Tom Degun

Patrick Anderson London 2012March 19 - Canadian wheelchair basketball legend Patrick Anderson, widely consider the best player in history, has hinted that he may come out of retirement to compete in front of a home crowd at the Toronto 2015 Parapan American Games.


The 33-year-old from Ontario came out of retirement ahead of the London 2012 Paralympics and almost single-handedly steered Team Canada to wheelchair basketball gold.

It gave Anderson his third Paralympic gold after victories at Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, while he was also part of the side that won silver at Beijing 2008.

Anderson again retired following the London 2012 victory but has refused to rule out the prospect of a Toronto 2015 comeback.

"Toronto 2015 is not flashing blindingly on my radar or anything," Anderson said, who had both legs amputated after being hit by a drunk driver at the age of nine.

"But it's there, as is the Rio 2016 Paralympics.

"I've never really competed at home at an international level, so that alone would be special.

"There will be some great teams there and a chance to showcase wheelchair basketball and that is still enticing now and probably will be in a few years.

"And it's close to home.

"So I hope to be there one way or the other, even as a spectator.

"It would take some kind of unforeseen circumstance to keep me away from at least being there and seeing how the team does, if not throw a jersey on and play along.

"We'll just have to wait and see."
 
patrick andersonPatrick Anderson spearheaded the Team Canada wheelchair basketball team to victory London 2012 to claim his third Paralympic gold medal

Anderson was described by Jon Pollock, the recently retired captain of Great Britain's wheelchair basketball team, as "the Michael Jordan of our game" and that the sport may not "ever see another player like him" in the future.

Anderson is modest when talking about what has made him the such a phenomenon in the sport.

"Kids always want to know your secret and it depends on who's asking because it's not always an easy thing to answer," he said.

"In some ways, I just got lucky.

"I have long arms and short legs and that works in wheelchair basketball.

Anderson admits that he now has ambitions of starting a new career in music having successfully completed his bachelor's degree in music in New York, where he lives with his songwriter wife.

But able to play either the piano or guitar, Anderson admits he's struggling when it comes to focusing on just one instrument and one talent.

"It's probably now or never for the music career," he says.

"It's a little bit unclear what that might look like.

"I might be able to answer that better in six months or so.

"It's a bit of a leap.

"Music is a little less clear than an athletic career arc."

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