2x NBA champion once called LeBron James a b****, pivoting him into a better teammate 

Jeet Pukhrambam | 22/08/2022

LeBron James took his time to develop into a leader, perhaps teammate Mario Chalmers’ harsh words during a time-out spurred him on. 

For a lot of players, it takes a certain amount of time and opportunity to fully blossom into the player they are meant to be. For LeBron James, the cocoon enveloped him for almost a decade.

His first run with the Cavaliers never truly helped him find his footing as a leader. And the eventual departure to Miami was met with a lot of vitriol from his fans. As LeBron searched to find his rhythm in the team, there were moments of sporadic outbursts.

One such moment was when Mario Chalmers, the then starting point guard for the Miami Heat confronted James during a time-out against the Indiana Pacers. The altercation was not pleasant, to say the least.

Also read: At 37y, 234d LeBron James is as old as Kobe Bryant was in his final NBA game

Mario Chalmers choice of words infuriated LeBron James but later helped mold him into a leader

Mario Chalmers didn’t hold back, during a time-out he told LeBron “You’re the star player, stop acting like a b**** and play!”

The scuffle arose over James’ lack of defense, something which he is notoriously known for. LeBron immediately erupted into Chalmers’ face.

But, as the storm quelled, so did he and he later said “(MA)Rio, it was my bad!”, taking accountability for his actions. We think this was a pivotal moment for James as he later led his team to their and his first title.

Chalmers too was integral to the success. In fact, he shares the 2nd most number of playoff wins with LeBron.

He has often spoken at length about being James’ teammate. Including this excerpt from a BIG3 game.

Since that particular moment, LeBron has carved up a hall-of-fame-worthy resume. Four titles and four MVPs are just the jewels on top of his crown.

He is the king of longevity. Entering his 20th season, he will look to surpass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list this year. As for Chalmers, he is a 2x NBA champion and had a stellar career.

Also read: LeBron James makes Rockets rookie’s dream from 3 years old come true at The CrawsOver, revealed by his mother

Post Edited By: Jeet Pukhrambam
LeBron James Mario Chalmers Miami Heat NBA

About the author

Jeet Pukhrambam

Jeet Pukhrambam is The SportsRush's Lead Editor for Basketball. After freelancing for five years as an independent writer, Jeet created thousands of blog posts and articles. He now covers intriguing news reports and throwback stories on all things NBA. His interest in NBA started with the ascendancy of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2016-17 season. Since then, Jeet has managed to coalesce his knowledge of the game and his writing to create pieces that are reflective of the current state of the league. Now, he ensures that The SportsRush produces the highest quality of writing. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, cooking, traveling, and dancing to techno. Jeet takes pride in his critical thinking, music playlists, and his love for spaghetti.

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