Mario Chalmers

Mario Chalmers

Chalmers with the Heat
No. 15   Miami Heat
Point guard
Personal information
Date of birth	May 19, 1986 (1986-05-19) (age 25)
Place of birth	Anchorage, Alaska
Nationality	American
High school	Bartlett (Anchorage)
Listed height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Listed weight	190 lb (86 kg)
Career information
College	Kansas
NBA Draft	2008 / Round: 2 / Pick: 34th overall
Selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves
Pro career	2008–present
Career history
2008–present	Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards
NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2009) NCAA Champion (2008)
Stats at NBA.com

Almario Vernard "Mario" Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the NBA.^[1] He was selected 34th overall in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Chalmers played for the University of Kansas in college for three seasons, including the 2007–08 national championship team, hitting a dramatic three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation to send the game against the Memphis Tigers into overtime, with Kansas eventually winning the game.^[2]

In the 2006–2007 Big 12 Coaches Awards, Chalmers was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State. Chalmers was also voted on the All Big 12 Third Team, and the All Big 12 Defensive Team.

In the 2007–2008 season, Chalmers was named Big 12 All-Defensive First Team and All Big 12 Second Team. He was also named Most Outstanding Player of the 2008 NCAA Championship.^[3]

High school

Chalmers attended Bartlett High School in Anchorage, Alaska. Chalmers was named 4A State Player of the Year three times in a row, joining Trajan Langdon as the only other player to do so. Chalmers also led his school to two state championships in 2002 and 2003, and a runner up finish in 2004.

College

Chalmers in college

Chalmers was rated the #2 overall point guard in the 2005 recruiting class by Rivals.com and Scout.com.^[4][5] He considered Arizona, North Carolina, Wake Forest and Georgia Tech before finally committing to KU on May 21, 2004.

Freshman year

Chalmers began his college career on the bench behind guard Jeff Hawkins, but worked his way into the starting rotation in January 2006. He finished the season starting 21 of the final 22 games (missing only senior night). He finished his freshman year averaging 11.5 points per game, second on the team. He became the second freshman in Big 12 history to win Conference Player of the Week honors and was named National Freshman of the Week twice. He also set the KU and Big 12 record for most steals in a season by a freshman with 89. Chalmers won KU's Clyde Lovellette Most Improved Player Award (co- with Julian Wright), and the Dutch Lonborg Free Throw Percentage Award (78.8%).

Year	Games Played	Minutes/Game	Points/Game	Rebounds/Game	Assists/Game	Turnovers/Game	Assist/Turnover	Steals/Game	Steals/Season
2005–2006	33	26.0	11.5	2.2	3.8	2.8	1.37	2.7	89

Sophomore year

Chalmers was second on the team in scoring at 12.3 points per game, recording four 20 point games during the 06–07 season. In the Big 12 Coaches Awards, Chalmers was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year with Marcus Dove of Oklahoma State. Chalmers was also voted on the All Big 12 Third Team, and the All Big 12 Defensive Team, and was the Big 12 Tournament Most Outstanding Player. His season total of 97 steals put him in first place in Kansas basketball history for steals in a single season.

Year	Games Played	Minutes/Game	Points/Game	Rebounds/Game	Assists/Game	Turnovers/Game	Assist/Turnover	Steals/Game	Steals/Season
2006–2007	38	29.2	12.2	3.0	3.3	2.4	1.36	2.6	97

Junior year

Chalmers averaged 12.8 points per game during his junior year. He also led the team in assists per game, with 4.3; 3-point shooting accuracy, at 46.8%; and steals, with 97. His 97 steals tied the school's single season record, a record he set as a sophomore. He scored 30 points in Kansas' win in the Big 12 Conference tournament title game against Texas.

He was named Big 12 All-Defensive First Team and All Big 12 Second Team.^[6]

Chalmers helped his team win the 2008 NCAA Championship with a three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left in the final game (often referred to as Mario's Miracle). His three just before the end of regulation brought the game into overtime, when Kansas would take over and beat the Memphis Tigers.^[2] Chalmers was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament. It was the Jayhawks' 5th national title (including two pre-tournament titles in 1922 and 1923). He was on the defensive first team in the NCAA.^[3]

Year	Games Played	Minutes/Game	Points/Game	Rebounds/Game	Assists/Game	Turnovers/Game	Assist/Turnover	Steals/Game	Steals/Season
2007–2008	39	30.0	12.8	3.1	4.3	1.9	2.25	2.5	97

NBA career

After working out for 13 teams, Chalmers was drafted with the 34th overall pick in the second round of the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota Timberwolves. When asked immediately after being drafted how many times he had watched his overtime-forcing three-pointer against Memphis in the NCAA championship, Chalmers responded, "a million times." The rights to Chalmers were later included in a trade with the Miami Heat.^[7]

On September 3, 2008, Chalmers and fellow former Kansas Jayhawks teammate Darrell Arthur were excused from the NBA's rookie transition program for a marijuana-related incident.^[8] Police responding to their hotel room following a fire alarm at 2:00 a.m. claimed that the room smelled strongly of marijuana but none was found and no charges were filed. Fellow NBA rookie Michael Beasley was also reported to have been in the room at the time, but was not asked to leave camp.^[9][10] Beasley was later fined $50,000 for his involvement in the incident.^[11] Chalmers denied any connection with marijuana and was later fined $20,000 by the league for missing the rookie camp, but was not fined or suspended for any drug-related violations.^[12]

2008–09 season

Chalmers started all 82 regular season games his rookie year^[13] and finished the season averaging 10.0 points, 4.9 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.95 steals on 32.0 minutes per game.^[14] His 1.95 steals per game ranked number one among all rookies and the fourth highest among all players.

On November 5, 2008 Chalmers set a new Miami Heat team record for steals with 9 in just his fourth game in the NBA.^[15]

2009-10 season

Chalmers had played in every game up to missing January 31 game against Milwaukee Bucks. It was the first game he had missed in his two year career. He has averaged 7.1 PPG and 3.4 APG. On January 31, 2010, an MRI confirmed that Chalmers has a torn ligament in his thumb.^[16] Chalmers returned from the injury a few weeks later, and played out the remainder of the season and the playoffs.

2010-11 season

On July 8, 2010, when LeBron James announced he would be joining the Miami Heat, Chalmers changed to his collegiate number 15, and James took Chalmers' old number 6.^[17]

In Game 5 of the 2011 NBA Finals, Chalmers made a half-court shot at the buzzer of the second quarter to give the Miami Heat a 31-30 lead,^[18] but the Heat would lose the game to the Dallas Mavericks 112-103 and trail in the series two games to three. Chalmers had 15 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.^[19]

Personal life

Chalmers was born to Ronnie and Almarie Chalmers. He has an older sister named Roneka, who resides in Charlotte, North Carolina. He also has a son, named Zachiah A'mario Johnson. Chalmers is the cousin of former Los Angeles Clippers guard and Xavier standout Lionel Chalmers, and former Minnesota Timberwolves guard Chris Smith.^[7] He has four tattoos: on his shoulders he has his grandmother's names and the day she was born and the day she died with a dollar in the middle because she would give all the children a dollar, the tattoo on the bottom of his wrist says "quickness" and "confidence", the two words his grandmother told him all the time, the one on top of his left wrist is his mother's name, on his back he has one that says "the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth".^[20]

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2008–09	Miami	82	82	32.0	.420	.367	.767	2.8	4.9	2.0	.1	10.0
2009–10	Miami	73	22	24.8	.401	.318	.745	1.8	3.4	1.2	.2	7.1
2010–11	Miami	70	28	22.6	.399	.359	.871	2.1	2.5	1.1	.1	6.4
Career		225	132	26.7	.409	.350	.778	2.3	3.7	1.4	.1	7.9

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2009	Miami	7	7	33.0	.400	.286	.714	2.7	4.4	2.9	.1	7.3
2010	Miami	5	0	26.2	.450	.350	.846	1.8	2.6	.6	.0	10.8
2011	Miami	21	1	24.3	.435	.381	.719	1.9	2.1	1.2	.0	7.8
Career		33	8	26.4	.430	.360	.750	2.1	2.7	1.5	.1	8.1

See also

• List of National Basketball Association players with 9 or more steals in a game

References

1. ^ "Chalmers Signs Deal with Heat". Lawrence Journal-World. July 10, 2008. http://www2.kusports.com/news/2008/jul/10/chalmers_signs_deal_heat/?mens_basketball. Retrieved 2008-07-16. 
2. ^ ^{a b} After 20-year drought, Kansas rallies to beat Memphis for NCAA title
3. ^ ^{a b} Pete Thamel (2008-04-08). "Kansas erases late deficit to win title". iht.com. http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/04/08/sports/NCAA.php. 
4. ^ Rivals.com Profile
5. ^ Scout.com Profile
6. ^ "Phillips 66 Big 12 Men's Basketball Awards Announced", Big 12, March 10, 2008.
7. ^ ^{a b} HEAT Acquire Draft Rights To Mario Chalmers
8. ^ Chris Broussard, Chalmers, Arthur caught with marijuana at rookie camp, September 3, 2008
9. ^ Fan IQ, 2008
10. ^ Report: Arthur, Chalmers Sent Home from Rookie Camp
11. ^ ESPN, 2008
12. ^ Associated Press, "Chalmers, Arthur fined $20,000 after rookie symposium incident", September 4, 2008.
13. ^ Chalmers 'earned' shot at 82 starts
14. ^ Mario Chalmers Career Stats
15. ^ ESPN "Chalmers gets team-record nine steals in win over Sixers", November 6, 2008.
16. ^ "Heat's Chambers out indefinitly with thumb injury". NBA.com. http://www.nba.com/2010/news/01/31/chalmers.injury/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt2. Retrieved 2010-02-01. 
17. ^ Winderman, Ira (July 9, 2010). "LeBron James gets No. 6, Mario Chalmers to wear No. 15". South Florida Sun-Sentinel. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-07-09/sports/sfl-miami-mario-chalmers-s070910_1_mario-chalmers-heat-number-heat-center-mark-blount. Retrieved June 9, 2011. 
18. ^ NBA (June 9, 2011). "Chalmers Insane Half-Court Heave". YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glpJsnTaThk. Retrieved June 9, 2011. 
19. ^ "Miami Heat vs. Dallas Mavericks box score". ESPN. http://scores.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=310609006. Retrieved June 9, 2011. 
20. ^ HEAT: HEAT Player 2008: Mario Chalmers

External links

• KU player bio
• Lawrence Journal-World profile
• NBADraft.net profile
• DraftExpress profile

Persondata
Name	Chalmers, Mario
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	May 19, 1986
Place of birth	Anchorage, Alaska
Date of death
Place of death