After being knocked out of the starting line-up in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, it’s safe to say that Mario Chalmers has played his last game for the Miami Heat.
Chalmers tied his career high in assists per game and shot a career-best from the field during the 2013-2014 season. Chalmers scored 25 points in Game 4 of the 2012 NBA Finals when LeBron James had to leave due to leg cramps. He also scored 19 points in Game 2 of the 2013 NBA Finals leading all scorers to help Miami tie the series.
Yet, it seems that after an awful postseason performance this year, the two-time NBA and one-time national champion out of Kansas has played his way out of the Miami Mafia.
Chalmers averaged a career-low 6.4 points per game in the Heat’s playoff run.
In their fourth straight trip to the Finals, the Heat point guard who has spent his entire career with the franchise, shot just 14 percent from three-point range. Dwyane Wade failed to make any appearances in these Finals which effected the result but Chalmers’ lack of production, which is why his service will most likely be excused.
Let’s not forget in the first two seasons after the James’ arrival in which Chalmers was the whipping boy of “The Big Three”. Then there was the situation this past December in a home game against the Indiana Pacers where James was in rare form and looked like he was ready to rip Chalmers’ head off during a timeout.
The NBA draft comes along and team president Pat Riley finds a way with no first-round picks available until 2019 to trade for former UConn’s Shabazz Napier, “James’ favorite player in the draft” who also plays point guard. Add in James saying the two-time champs need to improve at every position and posting an Instagram picture working out with fellow Ohioan Norris Cole, a few days after Chalmers posts an Instagram photo that sums up his and James’ relationship.
With Kyle Lowry publicly saying he wants to play for a championship and ESPN’s Ric Bucher reporting that the Heat and Toronto Raptors are having discussions about a sign and trade and James leading the Heat in assists every year since he signed with the team, what does that tell you about Chalmers’ future in Miami?
In the two years Miami hasn’t won the title, Chalmers defending the opponent’s best point guard—in Dallas’ Jason Kidd and San Antonio’s Tony Parker has proved to be an utter disaster.
Chalmers was the only Heat player in 2011 when it was losing in Dallas to have a pulse but it’s all about what have you done lately, and Chalmers has looked like a weak link on the team in the best position to get the most coveted free agent in league history in James. With James, Wade, Chris Bosh and Udonis Haslem opting out of their contracts and the draft-day trade for Napier, it’s clear that both the Heat and Chalmers are likely going in different directions.
As always, Chalmers will be the scapegoat during his time in Miami, as it is too bad he can’t revert back to his clutch-shot making form back in Lawrence not so long ago.
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