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