Sports Radio Interviews

Brendan Haywood: “I definitely think that we can compete with anybody in the Western Conference”

The Mavericks were the first team to make a trade before the NBA trade deadline and the early rewards look encouraging. Despite losing their first game as the new look Mavericks to Oklahoma City, Dallas has won five straight including wins over the Magic and the Lakers. While the trade centered around Caron Butler, who was brought in to bring some toughness on the perimeter to defend the likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and some of the other top scorers they may face in the playoffs, Brendan Haywood is more than just a throw-in. At the time he was traded Haywood was averaging a near double-double and he gives Dallas the kind of size and toughness in the paint that they have lacked over the last couple of years. Bringing in DeShawn Stevenson, Brendan Haywood and Caron Butler makes the Mavs tougher, it makes them deeper and it makes them a serious threat to spoil a Western Conference Finals rematch between the Lakers and the Nuggets.

Brendan Haywood joined ESPN Radio in Dallas with Galloway and Company to talk about how he likes it in Dallas so far since the trade, whether or not he thought he would be able to make this impact this quickly, what it’s like to go from a losing team in Washington to a playoff team, and how far he thinks the Mavericks can go this year.

On how he likes it in Dallas so far:

“I love it here. The team is great, the city is great and the fans are great. Everything is going pretty good right now.”

On whether or not he felt he could make this much of an impact so soon:

“I don’t look at it as an impact that I’ve made. I look at it as an impact that myself, Caron, and DeShawn have made. I think we’ve all played well at times to help this team. I didn’t expect things to happen this quickly because I expected myself and Erick (Dampier) to share a lot of time, but with his injury it opened up an opportunity for me to get a lot more minutes.”

On going from a losing team in Washington to a playoff team and how tough it was with the Arenas situation in Washington:

“It’s just great to be here in Dallas because you’re on a team that is actually contending. Coming down the stretch of the season you’re playing for something and that’s a good thing. As for the Arenas situation goes, it wasn’t a big distraction for me because at the end of the day we’re all pros, we’re paid to do a job and no matter what’s going on around us, we have to come out here and gives the fans their money’s worth.”

On his impressions of Dallas before he arrived and how he feels now after six games:

“My impression of the Mavericks before I got here was that they were a first class organization with a lot of talented players. Jason Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki of course and Jason Terry. When I’ve gotten here, they’ve lived up to all that. The staff has been great, people have really helped me get acclimated to the city, my teammates have been great on and off the court so basically what I thought is what I got.”

On what it is like to play with Jason Kidd:

“I think he makes everybody that steps on the court with him a better player. For me its phenomenal because you got a point guard that runs the show, he has great court vision and he’s always looking to make the pass. There’s been times when he’s looking at me and I don’t even see that I’m open yet. He’s looking at me like ‘hey man if you woulda turned around a split second earlier I coulda gotten you the ball.’ You always have to be aware of Jason Kidd and that type of thing makes everyone better. It makes myself better, it makes Shawn Marion and Dirk Nowitzki better. He just helps his teammates tremendously.”

On where he thinks this team stacks up in the hierarchy of the Western Conference:

“I definitely think that we can compete with anybody in the Western Conference. I think we have a great team. I think we have a good point guard, I think Dirk Nowitzki is an MVP candidate and he’s playing great, Shawn Marion does everything for this team, Jason Terry hits big shots and Caron Butler hits big shots so I think we have a good team. The thing I like is that it’s a team. Everybody encourages each other, everybody is pulling for one another, they wanna see guys do well and you have no idea how that helps a basketball team.”

Listen to Brendan Haywood on ESPN in Dallas here

Tags: Brendan Haywood, Dallas Mavericks, Dallas Mavericks trade for Caron Butler Brendan Haywood and DeShawn Stevenson, NBA, Western Conference