Tyson Chandler On His Bond With Dirk Nowitzki

“To me personally, it’s hard really to put into words quite honest. Just like a brother, inspiration, teacher, I learned so much from him watching him. Stuff that he doesn’t even know. Things that I have picked up in my time here. Him being the ultimate competitor, but not only that he changed the game. There is a generation coming up whether it is Porzingis, Dragan, that wants to be just like Dirk. That grew up watching him, idolizing him. Trying to patent their game after him and see if they can take it to the next level with their twist on what he created. Not only what he means to me, but what he means to the game, the city of Dallas. I was just telling my teammates I have never seen that level of basketball in my life in that 2010-11 run, I have never seen a player play at that level. To see how locked in and focused he was. As an athlete and competitor, I will be forever indebted to him and I will love him forever because he helped me reach my ultimate goal as an athlete winning a championship. He can call me anytime for anything, the only thing I can describe it as is brothers.”

“Looking forward to kicking his a** tonight. I can’t wait for his a** to be lined up beside me. Because thats what you do to your brother, you play your hardest against your brother. At the end of the day I love him. I loved competing against him my whole career before we were teammates because he is a special player. He’s one of those players you get up for. Now it just means that much more. I’m hoping he gets to 20 [seasons] because I know that was a goal of his, I’d like to see him finish his legacy the right way. Whatever he does…he’s given the game his everything.”