“I just want to go as far as I can take myself. No limits.” -- Tyson Chandler, 2002

The basketball world has known about Tyson Chandler ever since the unusually tall nine-year old was recruited by a local recreational coach in San Bernardino, California. The entire world has known his name ever since the Compton Dominguez high school freshman was profiled on 60 Minutes. And ever since he was taken as the second pick in the 2001 NBA Draft, Tyson Chandler has worked to become a force on the greatest basketball stage in the world.

In his nine years in the NBA so far, he has done just that.

Tyson enters his first season in NYC as one of the best big men in the game, and looks to replicate the hard work and leadership that brought renewed hope to the Dallas Mavericks faithful in 2010, who believed that Tyson was the key to bringing a title to the "Big D". And they were right.

With the incredible length of his 7’1” frame and remarkable athleticism, Tyson is perenially among the league leaders in blocked shots, rebounding and is regarded as one of the league’s toughest interior defenders.

It hasn’t always been easy, but through hard work and with the help of his family, Tyson has managed to improve his game and his community.

Under the Microscope
Born October 2, 1982 in Hanford, California, Tyson spent his early years on a farm, getting up early to do his chores, learning the value of hard work, and throwing jumpers through a rim his grandfather nailed to a tree. After moving to San Bernadino at age nine, Tyson would later find himself playing for national powerhouse Compton Dominguez in Los Angeles.

As a seven-foot freshman, his 60 Minutes segment made national news, but so did his play. Wrote the Los Angeles Daily News in 1998:

“Common sense tells you it's premature to label Dominguez High's Tyson Chandler anything more than what he is: a 15-year old freshman. But then you watch the 7-footer play and conventional wisdom goes right out the window. It's the way he gracefully runs the floor and the body control he displays when he catches a pass in the low post and turns and shoots.

It's the sophistication and skill level not normally seen in a big man so young. The footwork on defense and fluid movement on offense…As good as Chandler is now, he really only begun to scratch the surface.”

Throughout his career at Compton Dominguez, Tyson and his game garnered huge attention. When the team went on the road, Tyson was mobbed by autograph seekers and media attention, with everybody looking for a glimpse of the kid believed to be “the next big thing.” And why not? As a senior, Tyson led the Dons to a 31-4 record and the California state championship behind his 26 points, 15 boards, and eight blocks a game. He was named California State Player of the Year, and placed on the prestigious Parade Magazine All-American team.

At that point, it was clear the NBA was in his very near future.

Breakthrough and Early Career

After the Los Angeles Clippers made him the second pick in the ’01, Tyson was immediately traded to the Chicago Bulls with Brian Skinner for Elton Brand. Tyson learned to adjust both to life in the NBA and life away from his large family in California. He was brought along slowly, but by the end of his rookie season, Tyson had started 31 games. Over the course of the season, he averaged 6.1 points and 4.8 rebounds a night, and led the Bulls with 1.31 blocks per game.

In Tyson’s fourth season as a Bull he showed the league that he was a player on the rise. Tyson finished the year setting career highs in rebounding (9.7, good for ninth in the league) and blocks (1.8, 13th in the NBA). Tyson’s growth was a major factor in Chicago’s 23-game improvement in the standings, as the Bulls made the playoffs for the first time since the Jordan Era ended.

In July of 2006, the Bulls agreed to trade Tyson to the New Orleans Hornets. Starting every game of the season for the first time in his career, Tyson averaged 9.5 points, 12.4 rebounds (2nd in the league), 1.8 blocks, and shot an incredible 62% from the floor.  In 2007-2008, the talented big took the Bayou’s ballers to another level, raising his own game to average 11.8 points per game, topping a previous career high of 9.5. He also shot 62% from the floor for the second straight season, a remarkable achievement that allowed the Hornets to show confidence in TY to knock down big shots. Tyson added 11.7 boards per game to average a double-double.

During the 2009 offseason, Tyson was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats, where he joined Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown and a talented team of young players who had never before reached the postseason.  That would change in the 2009-2010 season. With Tyson’s presence on the defensive and offensive end, Charlotte reached the postseason for the first time in the history of the franchise.

Welcomed with Open Arms

Tyson joined the Dallas Mavericks during the 2010 offseason looking to capitalize on his building momentum.  He secured a spot in the starting lineup and never looked back, becoming the quintessential center that the Mavericks desperately needed to make their championship run.  Tyson has flourished with the Mavericks, allowing him to prove his status as one of the most important players in the NBA, and leading the team to a franchise first NBA Title in 2011.

All-Star and Mavericks franchise player Dirk Nowitzki compared the addition of Tyson to another big off-season acquisition by a team that immediately went onto a successful title run just a few years ago:

"It's almost like when KG went to Boston,'' Nowitzki said. "I don't think Ray Allen or Paul Pierce were great defenders before KG got there, but KG with his energy and influence and high octane kind of changed the whole mentality of the defense.''

Nowitzki, who was still searching for his first NBA title, believed Tyson would be the lynchpin of a Mavericks playoff run.
   

"We've got Tyson and we're going for it," he says.

In Dallas, Tyson found an audience to appreciate his talents.  Already known as one of the league’s best rebounders, he has improved his offensive game as well, shooting an insane 69% from the field.  He nearly averages a double-double, a stat that highlights his offensive and defensive consistency in the Dallas lineup. It's not only Dirk who has appreciated Tyson's arrival. His teammates and coaches have heaped praised on Tyson all season for his game-altering play. But perhaps the biggest endorsement is from the man who brought him to Dallas:

“If you talk about guys who have had an impact on the team and basically changed the culture, that’s Tyson Chandler,” owner Mark Cuban said. “He’s probably done that better than anybody in the league this year.”

Tyson is enjoyed one of his best-if not the best- seasons of his career as well, leading the Mavericks throughout the playoffs.

"It definitely is true," Chandler said of the notion that the Mavericks are building some unique chemistry. "We're a group that likes to play together, and we're able to communicate things without taking things personally. We all have the same motive - and that's to win. And we stick together."

Big Game, Big Heart
Tyson has always found inspiration in his mother and grandparents, who instilled in him the value of hard work and commitment to family.  He married his longtime fiancée Kimberly while with the Bulls and the pair have had three children since tying the knot.  Now a husband and father, he’s worked hard not only to improve his performance on the court, but become an important part of the community as well.

He’s been an active participant in the NBA’s Read to Achieve program, and while in Chicago and New Orleans worked extensively with youth programs and in the community to renovate outdoor basketball courts, work to combat teen violence, help rebuild homes destroyed by hurricane Katrina, and more.

Tyson's country morals and level-headedness strike a contrast to his fierce play on the court. He has routinely been cited as one of the "good guys" in the NBA and is truly one of the leagues' shining role models.