IN THE LANE
HIS NAME IS RIO: With Mario Chalmers formally introduced as a once-and-again member of the Memphis Grizzlies this past week, it is important to note that while the former Heat guard signed a one-year, free-agent contract for the veteran minimum of $2.1 million, only $25,000 of that is guaranteed in the wake of the former NBA champion missing all of last season with a torn Achilles. “I feel like I’m a better version of me,” Chalmers, 31, told media in Memphis. “Just having that whole year off, I took care of a lot of knick-knack injuries. I worked on different spots of my game — my ball handling, my shooting — just to look at all the things that people downgraded me on when I did play and just try to perfect those things and come back and have no weaknesses.” At that same media session, Memphis coach David Fizdale compared Grizzlies offseason acquisition Tyreke Evans to a player he worked alongside during his tenure as a Heat assistant coach. “Tyreke,” Fizdale said, “I’m just happy I’m not coaching against anymore. To me, he was the closest thing we faced to Dwyane Wade when it came to getting to the basket, being able to draw fouls, being able to finish through contact.”
DURANT ON DION: A recent podcast with The Ringer‘s Bill Simmons had Golden State Warriors forward Kevin Durant reflecting on life with the pre-Heat Dion Waiters. Having teamed with Waiters with the Oklahoma City Thunder, Durant was asked, “Are you ready to play in a league where Dion Waiters has a $52 million contract?” with Waiters receiving that four-year deal from the Heat in July. “Hell yeah,” Durant replied. “He should have got more . ... But he knows that’s his fault.” Durant then inferred that Waiters took too casual of an approach to the start of his NBA career with the Cleveland Cavaliers and Thunder. “He’s supposed to be better,” Durant said, his Warriors having been stung by a Waiters game-winning shot at AmericanAirlines Arena last season. “He knows that. He waited too long to do what he’s doing in Miami, I think.”
LAMAR’S LESSONS: In a candid interview with Yahoo Sports, former Heat forward Lamar Odom said even with a lone season in 2003-04 with the Heat he built a lasting appreciation for Pat Riley’s ongoing influence on the franchise. “In Miami, if you don’t go hard, you can’t play there,” he said. “That’s why I respect their program and their tradition and their style of basketball even to this day, even though they didn’t make it to the playoffs last year. Because I played there and I understand them, I can still watch them. I know what they’re going through in practice. They’re getting pushed to the limit. So if you have talent and you go to Miami, it’s going to come out and be maximized.” Like many on that ‘03-04 roster, that run to the Eastern Conference semifinals from an 0-7 start left an enduring impression. “We had [Dwyane] Wade, Caron [Butler], Eddie Jones, Rasual Butler, Rafer Alston, Brian Grant. We had a good nucleus,” he said. “We had a gritty team, blue-collar. I took the Heat philosophy for my whole career. When I watch basketball now, I watch it through the eyes of somebody that played for the Heat.”