Wilson Chandler unloads about his life in self-isolation

Everyone is under pressure. Everyone is tense. And some are sick with the coronavirus.

Earlier in the week, Wilson Chandler went on Twitter to describe his anger at his building manager in Brooklyn. As he tells the story, a representative of the management company that runs One Brooklyn Bridge Park, on seeing him in the building lobby, called Chandler.and asked him not to use the lobby.

The call angered Chandler, as he noted in a Twitter tirade that ended with him saying he was fed up and headed home ... to Michigan.

Now, in a Players Tribune piece on his isolation, said he’s decided to stay in Brooklyn and not return to Michigan where he has family.

“I decided to stay at my apartment in New York. I was thinking about going back to Michigan, but it’s probably in my family’s best interest if I stay here, you know? It just wasn’t worth it, what with traveling, the risk of getting sick, and then possibly getting my grandmother sick — since older people, with immune systems that are not as strong, are the ones who are most affected by corona. So that was my fear.”

And he said, he’s turned to meditation...

“This morning, after the lobby incident, I just sat down and did it. Whatever you believe in, whatever your religion or spiritual beliefs, I think people need to double down right now on things like that, and look within.”

Most of the Tribune piece was about being an NBA player in isolation, how he’s coping, what he’s doing ... and his existence is much like everyone’s. Playing Fortnite with his daughter —”My 11-year-old daughter continues to humiliate me in Fortnite’; reading and re-reading favorite books, like Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson; engaging in group chats; and even “reconnecting with art.”

“I had a good conversation with this guy named Elliot Perry, who’s a former player (including with the Nets) — retired a while ago, and he’s actually a minority owner of the Memphis Grizzlies. We had this good phone call about art. He’s a big art collector, and I’ve been diving into that world a lot the last few years. So, I was just on the phone with him talking about his thoughts on art appreciation. It’s kind of refreshing to have somebody who played in the NBA, and is still in the NBA as an owner, share that kind of knowledge with me.”

And while noting that his family is doing well, Chandler also has concerns for those in prison. He writes from personal knowledge...

“Growing up, having my dad and different family members and friends go to prison, and hearing from them about the conditions there. Even before this virus, there was a prison in Alabama where the prisoners were dying just because of the conditions, just maybe a month ago. So, just from that standpoint, and knowing like even now that there are people that’s on the street — I’m talking people not in prison — that can’t get tested. What are those prisoners gonna do that’s treated like second-, third-, fourth-class citizens that don’t have most of their rights? It gives me anxiety just thinking about those people because, wrong or not, they’re still human beings.”

As for basketball and the limbo he’s living through, Chandler doesn’t know what to think...

“It wouldn’t be exactly right to say it feels like the off-season. It’s weird because … it’s like it’s the off-season, as far as our doing nothing. But mentally? It’s not the off-season because there’s so much going on with the virus.”

Too much.

• Nets’ Wilson Chandler takes you inside his coronavirus isolation - Brian Lewis - New York Post
• Nets’ Wilson Chandler told to stay out apartment building common area - Maliki Andrews - ESPN
• Wilson Chandler neighbor defends building manager after Twitter tirade - Oli Coleman - New York Post