It’s no surprise that LeBron James is competitive, but that’s not a trait that’s just limited to Basketball. Mario Chalmers, an ex-teammate of LeBron recently recalled, on the OG’s podcast, his experience playing poker against the King. The hilarious incident took place during a Miami Heat flight, on which the host and Heat legend Udonis Hasleem was also present.
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Chalmers, LeBron, and Dwayne Wade were the players involved, and at first glance, it was obvious that Mario Chalmers was playing out of his league. But as the game progressed, Chalmers got more and more confident, calling his victory early.
During one of the hands, Chalmers had a pair of eights, after which he was confident that he had won the pot. Chalmers even ran up and down the plane, telling everyone that he would be buying a truck with the $35,000 winnings. But in pure LeBron fashion, the King revealed his hand, holding a pair of nines and a jack. LeBron would take home the entire $45,000 pot, making sure to talk trash to Chalmers in the process.
This wasn’t the end of LeBron’s trolling, as he would pull up to practice the next week, in the exact truck that Chalmers claimed he would buy. Recalling the incident on the podcast, Chalmers said,
“He bought the truck, pulled up to practice — ’cause you know I used to live across the street, so sometimes I’d just walk to practice or I’d run or do some goofy s— — this n—- pulled up and was like, ‘Yo, you want a ride?’ I’m like, ‘Shawty, if you don’t get the f— away from me, I’ll blow you and this truck up right now,’ like I was so f—— pissed.”
It’s safe to say that LeBron made sure to rub his victory into Chalmers’s face. The $45,000 victory pot seemed to have gone into good use, as LeBron and Chalmers would go on to share many more adversarial moments.
Chalmers and LeBron James almost had a “beef”
Most teams have a pecking order, franchise players, then superstars, and then you have talented role players and bench players. However, players have their egos and most franchise players don’t appreciate being criticized by anyone, especially the role players.
A similar situation occurred back in 2013 when Chalmers got in LeBron’s face during a game against Paul George and the Indiana Pacers. According to reports, Chalmers and LeBron got into a heated verbal altercation after a miscommunication on defense. This would result in Chalmers reportedly calling James a “bit*h” during a timeout.
But back in 2023, Chalmers would go on the ‘Playmaker’ podcast, putting across his point. Hilariously answering the quiet of whether he called LeBron a “bit*h or not”, Chalmers said,
“I didn’t call him a bit*h, I told him to stop playing like a bit*h”
Chalmers would further go on to explain how the Heat were playing poorly on that particular night, and he needed to give LeBron and the team some extra dose of motivation. Chalmers would turn out to be correct in his approach, as LeBron and Dwayne Wade would take over soon after, leading the Heat to a close victory over the Pacers.
