Athletes today have to be mindful of what they say to the media. Even if something was lightheartedly said or meant to be a joke, words could look bad if printed without context or little of it.
It’s not clear if that’s exactly what happened to Mario Chalmers, but the Miami Heat point guard made headlines on Friday when he referred to his former teammate LeBron James as “that guy”.
Mario Chalmers cut out of Media Day here in #Heat land, but not before this: “It’s going to be the same even though we don’t have that guy.”
— Joseph Goodman (@JoeGoodmanJr) September 26, 2014
Perhaps Chalmers was so unhappy with James for leaving the Heat that he doesn’t even want to refer to the superstar by name. But really, what he said doesn’t necessarily have to be construed as something bad. Chalmers was merely trying to remain positive about the outcome of his team for the upcoming season, and by saying “even though we don’t have him”, he was really complimenting James more than anything else. Lets keep it real, though. It’s not going to be “the same” after losing a player of James’ caliber.
Either way, the point guard felt the need to clarify his intent when he referred to James as “that guy” and did so on twitter:
Funny how the word is I call @KingJames that guy. I’ve never down played my teammates or ex teammates and I never will. Let’s focus on US. — Mario Chalmers (@mchalmers15) September 26, 2014
So he didn’t want to say James’ name simply because it was Media Day for the Heat and wanted to keep it about his team. Fair enough.
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James Park is a blogger and editor of Sheridan Hoops. Follow him on twitter @SheridanBlog.