Mario Chalmers got back to the NBA for the first time in nearly 4 years with the Miami Heat recently. He reveals his shock at the call-up.
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The NBA has seen a spate of Covid-19 cases – especially from the fast-spreading Omicron variant. Nearly a third of the league entered Covid-19 health and safety protocols in the past 3 weeks.
Practically every MVP candidate who’s been in the race this year has been placed under the protocols of late. Trae Young, James Harden, Kevin Durant, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Nikola Jokic are just a few of the frontrunners who’ve missed games in the past 3 weeks.
The Miami Heat themselves have missed two of their All-Stars for long stretches. Jimmy Butler came back in action recently with a 37-point outing, but Bam Adebayo is out for another month or so.
In their absence, the Heat have held fort over the month of December based on some exemplary play from their role players. But even the likes of Caleb Martin (15th man on an NBA roster at the start of the season) are now missing time themselves.
This has served up opportunities for spades of G-League and Euroleague players to display their worth to NBA teams. Lance Stephenson, Brandon Knight and Isaiah Thomas are just a few former stars who’ve had a run of games.
“I thought my agent was playing with me”: Mario Chalmers reveals his shock at his 10-day contract call-up
Mario Chalmers was the starting point guard for the Miami Heat all through their 4 Finals runs during the LeBron James era. He last played in the NBA for the Memphis Grizzlies early on in the 2017-18 season.
After a rather lackluster stint for the bottom-placed Memphis that year, Chalmers was unable to find a roster spot. He’s since played in the Greek League, but was unable to find much playing time on any Euroleague roster.
This NBA callup, therefore, seemed to come out of the blue for the veteran PG. Chalmers remarked about how surprised he felt at the callup from Erik Spoelstra during a recent press conference: “I thought my agent was playing with me.”
Mario Chalmers on the moment he heard about his 10-day opportunity with the Heat: “I thought my agent was playing with me.”
— Anthony Chiang (@Anthony_Chiang) January 1, 2022
Chalmers may not find consistent playing time in the league ever again. But he would be thankful to even have the opportunity to wear the Heat jersey one last time.