Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Ex-Heat forwards Marion, Ceballos a reality TV team
MIAMI — Shawn Marion and Cedric Ceballos never got to play as teammates during their tenures with the Miami Heat, but the two now have been united as celebrity contestants on CBS’ “The Amazing Race.”
With each forward well traveled during their NBA careers, including stints with the Heat for Ceballos in 2000-01 and for Marion at the end of the 2007-08 season and start of the 2008-09 season, they got to put their globetrotting expertise into play in the 30th installment of the aroundthe-world chase for a $1 million prize.
The taped reality show, with its Wednesday debut episode, features stops in 10 countries, 21 cities and 29,000 miles of travel.
For the former Heat players, such whirlwinds were the stuff of their NBA careers.
Over his 15-season NBA career, Marion, 39, played with the Phoenix Suns, Heat, Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers, winning an NBA championship in 2011, when his Mavericks defeated the Heat in the NBA Finals.
Ceballos, 48, had an even more expansive professional basketball career, one that spanned from 1990 to 2011, with stops with the Suns, Los Angeles Lakers, Mavericks, Detroit Pistons and Heat in the NBA, and then time overseas in Israel and Russia, as well as various minor-league outposts and time with the Harlem Globetrotters.
Marion and Ceballos were given the competition moniker “Team Slam Dunk.”
The 30th edition of the show includes several celebrity teams, including IndyCar drivers Conor Daly and Alexander Rossi, freestyle skiers Kristi Leskinen and Jen Hudak, and competitive eaters Joey Chestnut and Tim Janus.
The show opens in New York, with the teams then off to Iceland, Belgium, Bahrain, France, Zimbabwe and other stops.
Of the experience, Marion told the Chicago Tribune. “I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for me, and I was like, ‘Why not? Why not go for it?’ This is one of the shows that you really got to want to do. People love watching it, but to do it? It was more challenging than people think.”
The competition for the former Heat duo also included a pair from the Yale Debate Team and a pair of violinists from the quartet Well Strung.
Marion said any winnings would go to charity, while the appearance on the show could “maybe open more doors and opportunities for future endeavors.”
Marion indicated that the two survived the experience with friendship intact.
“Ced is a cool guy,” he told Chicago’s CBSLocal. “We have a basketball fraternity. Once you’re in the league, you’re a brother for life. We had never been teammates. It was very interesting to see how we related to each other and communicated. For the most part, we were able to figure stuff out.
“We had some crucial blows here and there, but it wasn’t anything drastic. We got over it. If you hold any grudges, you can’t compete. When you get mad and dwell on it for a little bit, it just ruins the day. We fought and got through stuff and made it through. Everything isn’t picture perfect. Once you communicate and get through stuff, that’s all that matters.”