07/29/2009 - 00:00
On the Move Again
by Tyson Chandler

I feel very good about the trade. I'm going to a place that has some good young players, some players that play hard and a great coach in Larry Brown. I'm really excited about the new opportunity to be a part of something that I feel like is on the rise.

On the other hand, I'm sad to leave New Orleans. I met a lot of people in the community that I got close to. It was an incredible playing environment, playing with a group of teammates that I grew to love and respect. That part I'm really going to miss. With those guys it was like a family. Being under Coach Scott and his staff and growing close with he and his family and the Pauls, really all of my teammates. We were really close, so I'm really going to miss them. It's tough for me to leave, but I am looking forward to the future.

Tyson was traded on Tuesday to the Charlotte Bobcats for Emeka Okafor (Getty Images).

I haven't talked to anybody about the trade yet except Hilton Armstrong. He's a funny dude. As soon as I got traded he texted, saying, “It was nice knowing you,” as a joke. I called him and we talked. He just thanked me for everything I've done for him as a young player while I was there in New Orleans. But I haven't even had much of a chance yet to reach out to the other guys. I think Chris is in China and Coach Scott is in the Bahamas. It's all happened so quick that I haven't even had the chance to reach out to everybody yet.

POSTCARD TO NOLA
I felt like we really had an opportunity as a team to grow within that franchise and get better and better. I thought we had the opportunity for a title shot. I'm going to miss playing alongside the guy who I think is the best point guard in the game and has a chance to be one of the greatest of all time, Chris. Then D-West, watching him develop as a player, I'm going to miss that. I felt like playing with David, I was also playing with the best shooter in the game.

Everyone knows how I feel about Coach. I just love and respect him so much and he's helped me turn my career around from where it was heading in Chicago, coming into New Orleans and allowing people to see that talent that I have.

TC, CP3 and D-West: Good times (Getty Images).

I'm really going to miss all of New Orleans, including the fans. I've grown close to a lot of the fans in my time there and I'll miss that a lot. Especially because of last year, being injured and hurt. Obviously, I tried to play through it, but I wasn't the type of player that I normally am. So it's also tough to leave there without giving the fans that final taste of what I'm capable of doing.

I just want to thank the city of New Orleans, the Hornets organization for the opportunity and for the great couple of years that I had there. I also want to thank my Hornets teammates for everything they've done for me. I had great time in New Orleans being able to enjoy the game again, with them.

THE FUTURE IS NOW IN CHARLOTTE
Now I'm headed to Charlotte and I look forward to the future.

I'm thrilled about the opportunity to come over to the Bobcats. I'm excited to play with a couple of young point guards in Raymond Felton and D.J. Augustin. I'm looking forward to playing with Gerald Wallace as well, and I think the moves they've made have really helped the team to move in the right direction with Boris Diaw and Vladimir Radmanovic.

I talked to Coach Brown this morning, and he was telling me that he's very excited to have me and how much he's looking forward to working with me. We talked about what's expected of me and what's needed from me in terms of giving the team an identity. He told me a little about his coaching style and his coaching methods so that I can get familiar with them before I come in.

I already have a great understanding of what he's all about and what he expects from his players. After watching him for years now, it's exactly what I expected. It's about bringing a certain type of intensity to work and just a passion for the game, something that he and I share. That's the biggest thing I pride myself on is bringing that passion for the game.

THE END OF THE RAINBOW
Physically, I'm feeling a lot better, much better than I did during the season. For the first time I have mobility in my foot, my ankle and my toe. That's the first time in a long time after dealing with that sprain for a while now.

I'm very excited with therapy. After surgery, it's always kind of hard to see the gold at the end of the rainbow. Sometimes it's hard even seeing the rainbow. But with time and the way things are going with rehab every day, every day going at it, I'm really excited about the upcoming season as far as being able to do things that I wasn't able to do last year.

I'm back to being explosive and athletic again. The injuries took away a lot of my ability and the way I move. I'm just excited about being athletic again.

FISHING, RECORDS AND REHAB
Summer has been going good. All summer I've been devoted to getting healthy again through rehab and training. I was just about to get out and go fishing and I even had a fishing trip planned for tomorrow, but now I'll be in the air, on my way to Charlotte.

I've spent a lot of time at the record store this summer picking up old records. I was just getting some more this afternoon after the trade was announced. Just a lot of old school stuff on vinyl for my record player.

My family is having a great summer as well. My boy is acting like he wants to walk before he crawls and my daughter is having fun. We've all been enjoying the weather, the beaches and the water here in California.

After heading out to Charlotte tomorrow, I'll be coming back to California for a while to keep up on my training and rehab, I'm sure I'll find out exactly what the schedule is for the team and offseason work with them since everybody is different. Until then I'll be getting ready for my first season with the Charlotte Bobcats.