Former Miami Heat guard Mario Chalmers is known to be a player that never shies away from a big moment.
During his time at the University of Kansas, he hit a game-tying shot in the final seconds of the national championship game in the 2008 NCAA tournament to send the game into overtime.
Chalmers didn’t really get those chances when he played in the league, and the 34-year-old mentioned to Alex Kennedy on the HoopsHype Podcast that giving up those type of last-second shots to LeBron James when they played together on the Heat was difficult for him.
“Playing with one of the greats is a learning experience,” said Chalmers. “It’s a lot of fun, but it’s also hard with all the scrutiny and everything that comes with it. For a player like me that likes to take the last shot, that likes to be in the moment, you got to respect LeBron, you got to let him take those shots sometimes. Situations like that are difficult, but it was fun. I never take away from that experience of playing with that guy. He’s one of the greats.”
Chalmers and James spent four seasons together with the Heat, from 2010 to 2014. In that time, they went to the NBA Finals on four straight occasions, winning two titles.
In those four seasons, Chalmers averaged 8.6 points, 2.5 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
Chalmers was acquired by the Heat in a trade during the 2008 NBA Draft and went on to spend a little over seven seasons with the team, as he was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies early on into his eighth season with the Heat.
In his time with the Heat, Chalmers averaged 8.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1.5 steals per game.
He last played in the NBA during the 2017-18 season, where he played 66 games for the Grizzlies.