NEW YORK _ Tyson Chandler knew his mother only had a few months to live, and at the same time he had a basketball season to manage with the New York Knicks.
Emotionally and physically, it was a taxing time for the former Defensive Player of the Year. He'd fly to L.A. after games to be with his cancer-stricken mother in the hospital, then return to New York for practice or game-time.
Publicly, Chandler kept it a secret. Nobody knew his mother, Vernie Threadgill, was given just "3-to-6 months to live" by doctors, according to Chandler. The earth-shattering call arrived in January of 2014 _ during Chandler's final season with the Knicks _ when he was told the diagnosis of Stage 4 colon cancer. Privately, Chandler had help of owner James Dolan, who allowed him and his family the use of his personal plane for cross-country treks.
"It allowed not only myself to go back and forth, but my wife, my brother was flying with me. And it just made things a lot easier," Chandler said. "Clearly I was doing it myself. It was taking a toll on me. He stepped up and it took a lot of weight off of me, honestly. So I'm very appreciative for him in that moment, the way he stepped up."
As Dolan continues to catch heat for his temper and treatment of Charles Oakley and Spike Lee, this story serves as the counter _ a demonstration of compassion that Chandler will forever appreciate. Another is helping Vin Baker with his recovery from alcoholism after he signed with the Knicks in 2003.
"That's why I went over and said hello to him (when Chandler's team, the Rockets, was at MSG recently), I got nothing but respect for him," Chandler said. "He stepped up at a time in my life when, clearly, I don't even know how to describe it.
"That's what I was going through. Nobody knew. But Dolan knew, clearly, because I was talking to the coaching staff and GM, stuff like that. And he stepped up. Because you can only imagine the toll it was taking on me, so I appreciated it."
As such, Chandler doesn't feel the need to defend Dolan from his critics. He understands people have their own reasons to dislike the controversial owner. Chandler just has a different impression.
"People have their opinions. For me, I hear everything about him, but that has nothing to do with me," Chandler said. "If somebody comes to me and asks me, I say he's a great dude. He looked out for me in a time of need. So that's the kind of stuff people don't hear about. They just hear the other s---."
