#kobe was his role model and mentor with the lakers since he was and is such a big part of the organization

[kainefloyd]

Happy Birthday, Mamba. Today we celebrate you as a man and tomorrow we celebrate you as a player. So my post today is what you taught me off the court. Your love for your daughters & wife was and still is astronomical. People look at you as the ultimate girl dad and talk about how your best role ever was dad. I look to you and hope more than anything I can make my sons and future children as proud as you make yours, but most importantly that the love I have for Lorena can be as memorable and go down in history like you and V’s. We both always talked about how lucky we were when it came to our better half’s, that they’re the real rock and real MVPs and don’t get enough credit. Vanessa is such a strong, powerful woman and her dedications to you always make me smile, think and pray that I can be the ‘‘Kobe Bryant’ to my family. I wanna make my kids proud, my girl feel all the love in the world and leave sports and work at the door when I come home. Miss you every day - Kaine 

[junker-town]

Tyson Chandler has found his calling as the old head for the baby Suns

Most veterans like Chandler want to play for title contenders, but he’s perfectly content to be the mentor for one of the youngest teams in the NBA.

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Earl Watson remembers when he first met Tyson Chandler. Watson and Baron Davis were the first set of freshmen to start at UCLA in over 20 years, and a young Chandler, then in eighth grade, wanted to be just like them.

“I used to go pick up Tyson to go eat. ... I mean, free food man, you gonna jump in the car, right?” Watson reminisces. “Tyson was coming up and he wanted to be like us, but obviously he couldn’t dribble. He could only dunk at that time. Tyson was just like our little brother.”

Back in 1997, Watson and Davis lived together in a garage in South Central, Los Angeles. Whose? He still doesn’t know. But he remembers fostering a unique relationship with a young player, one he had no idea would go on to become an NBA All-Star.

Chandler isn’t forgetting those times, either.

“It was a great time with them,” Chandler says. “I already looked up to him and Baron, and being able to go on UCLA’s campus and have them show me around. They were like my big bros.”

Watson and Davis didn’t have much before they struck gold with their NBA career, but they took Chandler to eat every time they hung out. Those sessions served as mentorship opportunities for the pair of Bruins guards, who prepared an eager Chandler for life both on and off the court. The frugal college freshmen chose between two chain restaurants: McDonald’s and In-N-Out. Mostly In-N-Out.

Chandler got the same order every time, one indicative of his playing career. “A double-double. Tyson used to get two of them,” Watson says now. “I was like, ‘damn bro, you breakin’ us.’“

Those broke days are long gone. Watson and Davis each enjoyed fruitful NBA careers. The little brother is on the tail end of his.

In his 16th NBA season, the Suns’ big man is averaging 8.4 points, 11.4 rebounds and just a half-block per game. But Chandler’s impact this season has transcended the stat sheet. Now the oldest player on a Phoenix team that played the youngest starting lineup in NBA history, Chandler is the oracle.

“This is a group of young, great guys that I think are gonna have long, amazing careers in this league,” he says. “A couple guys have a chance to be big faces in this league. Being on this team is a blessing really. I get a chance to pass out some of the knowledge.”

**

Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Chandler is sitting in front of his locker moments before his Suns take on the Nets. Chandler isn’t playing tonight. The Suns are resting him for the final games of a fruitless season.

Chandler, now 34 years old, signed a four-year, $52 million deal with Phoenix two summers ago. Phoenix nearly signed LaMarcus Aldridge that same offseason, but the All-Star forward chose San Antonio in a decision he said “came down to the final minute, to the final day.” Now the Suns finds themselves with a 22-50 record one season after finishing 23-59.

Most players of Chandler’s experience would have asked out by now, but the Suns’ defensive anchor hasn’t grumbled, nor is he chasing rings. He already has one, thanks to his role as the rim-protecting big man on a 2011 Dallas Mavericks team that took down LeBron James and the Miami Heat.

Instead, he follows what his heart tells him in the moment. That thought could change next season, but at least for now, it’s telling him to embrace Phoenix.

“My mindset is just kind of wherever I feel my heart is at the time. Whatever I feel like is best for my career or what’s needed,” he says. “That’s kind of how I’m gonna play out whatever years I’ve got left.”

Chandler isn’t the same teenager Watson had under his wings during his UCLA years, even if he’s still the same height. The seven-footer’s NBA resume features an NBA championship, as well as three gold medals (one Olympic, two FIBA), an All-Star appearance in 2013, and the 2012 Defensive Player of the Year award.

But Watson says his little brother is the leader of this young Suns team. Save for MVP honors, Chandler has claimed an NBA accolade in every category. His success is contagious.

“Tyson has been amazing for these young guys because he’s been there and done that. And he’s not a coach, he still puts on a jersey,” Watson says. “So he has that presence of legendary player, championship, gold medal. He came in the league when he was 18, so he can relate. They follow his voice, they look up to him.”

***

Jennifer Stewart-USA TODAY Sports

Suns youngsters are taking notes from their elder statesman.

In two years, Devin Booker’s run out of space in his notepad. It’s no coincidence the second-year shooter has taken a leap forward since his rookie season.

“[Tyson’s] like a voice you go to. You always hear his voice in the locker room,” Booker tells SB Nation. “He’s giving us tips on life, tips on basketball. He’s everything all of us wanna be: NBA champion, Olympic gold medalist, All-Star. So he’s done everything. Now he’s just helping us out each and every day. He’s leading by example.”

Booker’s 20.8 points per game is seven points higher than his output from last season — the largest jump in production of any player drafted in 2015. His play has been the shining beacon in an otherwise dull Phoenix season.

Barely through his second year, the super scorer considers himself a veteran already. As this season comes to a close, Booker wants to improve in a non-skill area.

“Just working on leadership,” he tells SB Nation. “I know even though we have a lot of veterans around here, I feel like on the court, I’m one of the older guys now. So leading by voice is something I need to work on.”

“He’s giving us tips on life, tips on basketball. He’s everything all of us wanna be.” -Devin Booker on Tyson Chandler

Booker knows he has an ever-flowing fountain of leadership in his locker room. He listens to the stories Chandler tells about his championship run alongside Dirk Nowitzki in Dallas. He soaks up Chandler’s tales of winning an Olympic gold medal with Kobe Bryant in 2012.

But Booker’s a guard, and as long as Chandler’s been in the league, there’s only but so much he can teach him. Chandler has a sponge, though, in Chriss, an 18-year-old, 6’11 rookie who Phoenix selected eighth in last year’s draft. With him and the other young bigs, Chandler can be a little more hands on.

“Trying to show them the fundamentals of the game,” Chandler says. “The small things, the details. I’ve been watching them and they’re really learning how to be a big man. Both of them are young dudes learning the game.”

Chriss averages 8.7 points per game this season and has shined in extended playing time. In Phoenix’s last five games, he’s averaging 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. While he wants to develop into his own player, he wants to model areas of his own game after Chandler’s.

“Tyson is a competitor. I think that’s his strongest attribute,” Chriss says. “He’s emotional. He’s expressive. And he’s a leader, in all aspects of the word. Even when he’s not playing, he’s telling us things we need to do on the court. He’s visualizing it as if he was actually in the game. And he’s trying to walk you through it and just instruct you as best as he could.”

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

It all sounds good until the product touches the floor.

Then it becomes a mess, one compounded by a 126-98 loss to a league-worst Nets team on Thursday.

It marks the eighth defeat in 10 games for Phoenix, which has gone 7-21 since Jan. 24. The Suns shut down Chandler and Eric Bledsoe for the season, leaving them with only eight players available on Thursday.

Chandler knows what time it is. He’s been through the ringer before.

“This time of the year when you’re not in the playoffs. It’s important to develop the young talent,” he says after their loss. “We have hopes of making the playoffs next year. They have to come into the season ready to be big contributors. We don’t have to waste so now is the time for them to get their opportunity to develop.”

Still, a blowout loss to the league-worst Nets is problematic. Teams have begun resting players in the tail end of the season. The Lakers shut down their veterans in early March. The Knicks are reducing Carmelo Anthony’s minutes. Phoenix isn’t running Bledsoe or Chandler for the remainder of the season.

But Watson insists the team isn’t tanking.

“We have to execute a vision from above, but when we take that court, we compete,” a candid Watson says. “We play the right way. So we’re not just out here to get the game over.”

The compounding losses have blurred Watson’s vision of the future. He can’t even think that far, he said, especially not after losing by almost 30 to Brooklyn.

“Who am I, Nostradamus?” he asks.

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images

In truth, the Suns are set up nicely for the near future.

Phoenix has just $65 million committed in guaranteed salaries for the 2017-18 season. The salary cap is projected to increase to nearly $103 million. They also own the third-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick in the loaded 2017 NBA Draft, which could potentially yield either Washington’s Markelle Fultz or UCLA’s Lonzo Ball.

The Suns have picked a guard in each of the last five draft classes, and a potential Ball-Booker backcourt is enticing. But even if they get lucky, the Suns must decide what to do with Bledsoe, who turns 28 in December and just had a career season.

Booker feels the team has a good young core and that the second half of the season has given them time to jell as a unit.

But this year has opened his eyes to what can go wrong in a season. The Suns weren’t expected to be a playoff team, not in the heavy-hitting Western Conference. But the team didn’t expect to finish so far below .500.

“We don’t ever want to be in this situation again,” Booker tells SB Nation. “So, just building off this as we’re kind of getting ready for next year. I feel like winning will start right now and it will translate over to next year.”

Re-enter Chandler, whose contract extends through the 2018-19 season. By that time, he’ll be 36 with 18 years of NBA experience. Chandler’s in Phoenix to stay so long as the team continues along the right path toward contending for a playoff spot.

“I think that’s the next step that this team has to take,” Chandler says. “Young guys right now are getting the opportunity to play minutes and build. And next year, they’ll be able to take it to the next level.”