It didn't take long for Mario Chalmers to shoot his shot at a roster spot after news of a Rajon Rondo injury soon went viral. The Los Angeles Lakers are expected to be without their veteran backup point guard for the next six to eight weeks after he fractured his right thumb in practice.
Chalmers, who has been out of the league for two seasons since a 2017-18 season stint with the Memphis Grizzlies, is itching for a chance to link up with LeBron James again. He took to Instagram to express his interest in replacing Rondo, claiming he has been “waiting and workin” for another opportunity:
Mario Chalmers is ready to replace Rajon Rondo pic.twitter.com/bpo745L71F
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) July 13, 2020
The 34-year-old spent four of his seven-plus seasons with the Miami Heat playing next to James, and he likely saw this as another opportunity to add to his hardware collection by hitching a ride to the NBA bubble.
But there is one major problem.
The Lakers will be unable to sign a replacement for Rondo, as those exceptions are to be used for players who choose to opt out of the restart. Rondo opted into the restart and hurt himself during practice, making this, by rule, a non-exception.
Who can blame Chalmers for thirsting for another ring, though? The two-time NBA champion has spent the last two seasons playing for Virtus Bologna in Italy (2019) and AEK Athens in Greece (2019-20) after seeing his NBA opportunities dwindle.
It seems Chalmers will have to wait until the offseason to shoot his shot again and potentially reunite with King James after the restart initiative has come to a close.
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