There's a million reasons why the general public and the media have enjoyed watching the Dallas Mavericks finally win the NBA Championship that's eluded them for so many years. There's Dirk Nowitzki getting his due, Jason Kidd finally winning a ring after close to two decades in the league, the mild-mannered Rick Carlisle showcasing his under-appreciated prowess as a head coach, Jason Terry putting his ego aside to come off the bench and still be the team's most confident and charismatic player. I could go on. But one guy who probably didn't get quite the attention he deserved is Tyson Chandler.
Don't get me wrong, fans understood what Chandler brought to the table defensively, but I don't think enough people outside of Dallas (and the other markets he's played in) realize what a great guy he is. Pure locker room gold.
All season long, Chandler has joined Ben & Skin on ESPN Radio Dallas each week to update them and Mavs' fans about the season. On Friday, Chandler gave his final interview for this year. And considering Chandler is a free agent and may not be back in Dallas in 2011-2012, it's possible that he won't ever give another interview to the station as a member of the Mavericks. We'll see. Something tells me Mark Cuban will pay him, but that may be dependent on what the new CBA looks like assuming there is in fact a lockout on the horizon as expected.
Here's a few quotes from Chandler's appearance on Friday. You can listen to the interview in its entirety by clicking on the link contained at the end of the post.
On how he'll approach this summer's free agency knowing that he's one of the few prized guys on the market this year:
"I try not to get involved in it because then it gets personal. I honestly try to stay out of it as much as possible, and then at the last minute when I need to make a decision I'll come in and me and my agent will sit down."
On the Mavericks players surprising the crowd during the championship parade Thursday when they appeared from a balcony downtown to sing 'We Are The Champions':
"I was getting tweet messages, messages on Twitter saying how we came all the way out there this morning but aren't going to be able to see you guys. A lot of us were upset that we couldn't see all of our fans during the course of the parade, so when we got back down to the arena, the management and the PR people said that we should probably go up to the balcony and acknowledge our fans there. Obviously we were all for it. It was awesome to be able to interact with all of our fans and nobody miss out. Just an incredible experience."
Listen to Chandler's final weekly spot with Ben & Skin on ESPN Radio Dallas