Tyson Chandler Compares New York Knicks to Title-Winning Dallas Mavericks

When Tyson Chandler looks at the current New York Knicks, who have exceed all expectations so far this season, he seems many similarities with the Dallas Mavericks team that won the NBA championship in 2011. From CBS Sports: “His knees covered in compression wraps and feet soaking in an ice bucket, Chandler could not have agreed more. He’s been down this road before, and to him, the Knicks’ fast start has a familiar feel to it. ‘Dallas all over again,’ he said. ‘Me and the light-skinned brother over there talk about it all the time.’ The light-skinned brother, of course, was Jason Kidd, who wins wherever he goes. It was Kidd and Chandler who joined forces with Dirk Nowitzki and a cast of veterans, swaggering playmakers and fearless perimeter shooters to end Miami’s championship quest in this very building two years ago. James (who was brilliant Thursday night with 31 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists) and Dwyane Wade (who was not, with a 3-of-13 shooting night and a career-low plus-minus rating of minus-33) couldn’t be blamed if they were having flashbacks to the 2011 Finals. ‘It really feels like that, with the depth, the chemistry, the veteran leadership, the shooters,’ Chandler said. ‘And we have to really believe. The moment I signed [in Dallas], I promise you, I told my family, ‘We’re going to win a championship, and at minimum, we’re going to make it to the Western Conference finals.’ And I felt the same way once this group came together. With that team in Dallas, we started to believe as the season went along. The moment I walked in, I told all of them: ‘Prepare for a long season. We’re going all the way, and we have to have a mindset to do it, no matter what obstacles get in our way.’ And it’s the same thing with this team.’ […] ‘The makeup of the team is very similar,’ Kidd admitted. ‘The star players, Dirk and Melo, tops in the world. The pieces are very similar. When we played defense to start the season off that year, we started to believe that we could win that way and it just snowballed. Hopefully, it’s the same thing here.’ But … this is where Kidd’s locker-room IQ equals or even surpasses his basketball IQ. ‘It’s an 82-game schedule,’ he said. ‘This is dress rehearsal, that’s all this is. You guys will do all the hype and everything, but this is just dress rehearsal for the playoffs. … You can’t fall into the trap of feeling good about yourself because we haven’t accomplished anything.'”