National Basketball Association

Infuriated former Knick Chandler fires back at Phil Jackson

Published Sep. 20, 2014 8:50 a.m. ET

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It's been a few months since Tyson Chandler was traded from the New York Knicks to the Dallas Mavericks, but Chandler wanted to send a message to his former boss.

In an interview with ESPN Dallas on Friday, Chandler responded to comments Knicks president Phil Jackson made soon after the multiplayer deal was completed in June.

"I did nothing but try to help the culture there the three years I was there," Chandler said. "You can say I didn't live up to whatever, or you didn't like the way I played or anything. But to ever question who I am and the type of leader I am in the locker room, I don't even know where that came from.

"I honestly don't know where that came from. I don't know if Phil put that out there or who put that out there, but to me, that was the ultimate shock. And you don't have to say that to get rid of me or to trade me. The trade is over.

"So to judge my character and what I've done, you can go look at all my teammates and ask all of my teammates in the past, and the coaches I've played for, and I've never been a problem and never had a problem. So that was a shock to me that I didn't appreciate."

At the time of the trade, Jackson said the deal, which sent Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert and Shane Larkin, was completed, in part, to address team chemistry.

"To do that," Jackson said in June, "we felt [it was] important to bring in some new personnel, and start with some character guys that we felt can carry this forward.

"Watching them play, I saw guys that looked at each other like, 'You didn't back me up, you weren't here when I needed help.' There just wasn't the right combination or feel [where] it felt like everybody was in sync all the time."