DALLAS — An hour before he was to present an NBA championship ring to Tyson Chandler, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was worried.
Well, sort of.
“It’ll be fun,” Cuban said, dripping sweat as he worked his stair climber next to the Mavericks locker room, “but I’m afraid he’ll chest-bump me so hard I’ll go flying across the court. Either that or I’ll bruise my sternum.”
Neither happened, of course. Chandler, the Knicks center whose defense and tenacity inside made him a big part of the Mavs’ run to the league title last season, merely had hugs for all — Cuban included — after he was introduced last night in a pregame ceremony as “one of the all-time legendary Maverick players,” and praised by his former coach, Rick Carlisle, for his “grit, courage and toughness.” That was followed by a standing ovation as Chandler held his ring aloft for the crowd to see.
It was a moment Chandler had waited for his entire career.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” the 7-1 veteran said after the Knicks’ 95-85 loss. “I was overwhelmed. You’d think I was here for more than one season, but I was able to accomplish a lot last year. As a player, it was absolutely the best time. It’s what you dream of. I’m just trying to do the same thing here [with the Knicks].”
The moment was bittersweet for both Chandler and his former team. Despite his contribution to the championship, the Mavs let Chandler leave as a free agent, allowing the Knicks to scoop him up and leaving Dallas’ fans and players with a lingering longing for a key leader of a title team that thrived on chemistry.
The ring ceremony — the fifth and last the team has held for former players coming to Dallas as visitors — only underscored that point.
“He was always roaring and getting the crowd pumped up,” Mavs forward Shawn Marion said. “He’s a great presence. … He really brings it, and we miss that. He was big part of what we had last year, what allowed us to win it.
“He’ll get that bling-bling, so it was well worth it. I’m sorry he’s not with us right now, but that’s the nature of the game. Too bad it couldn’t happen all in one night, with everyone still here and the team together. Everyone has the rings and I’m happy for all those guys. I wish they were all here, though. It just doesn’t happen that way.”
“He’s a great center,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I know he’s our guy. I think he’s as good as any center in the league, what he brings to the team.”
The night went downhill for Chandler after the ceremony. Despite the emotion — and hindered by a sprained wrist that has clearly affected his game — he was a nonfactor, managing six points and eight rebounds through three quarters, when the Knicks trailed by 14.
He opened the fourth quarter on the bench, where he watched the Knicks roar back to within one with 5:44 left before the comeback fizzled. Chandler wound up playing a mere 2:27 in the final period, his only contribution a technical foul he said he didn’t deserve.
“In all honesty, I’ve deserved some techs this year, but this one wasn’t one of them — no foul language, no disrespect for the game,” he said. “I hope they take a look at it and see I was simply saying that Dirk [Nowitzki] traveled, with the hand signal. That was it.”
But neither the T nor the loss could take away magic of the night Tyson Chandler received the NBA’s ultimate prize.
The ring.
“Just the moment was amazing,” he marveled. “I didn’t have enough time to really look at it, but experiencing it, getting the ring … It’s my lifelong work and definitely everything I ever dreamed of.”