Mario Chalmers believes LeBron James will ultimately sign with the Golden State Warriors or Miami Heat.
Chalmers knows James pretty well, having teamed up with James as the starting point guard of the Heat during their dynasty run in the early 2010s. Chalmers helped lead the Heat to back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013 and four consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
Fast forward nearly 12 years later and the Heat are a viable destination as the 41-year-old James looks to round out his career with his final team.
While Chalmers said it’s between the Warriors and Heat for James’ services, he believes James would love to play in Golden State with Steph Curry and for a veteran coach like Steve Kerr. He admits that while the Warriors will have a tough time to being one of the elite teams in the Western Conference, they’ll be between the sixth and 10th spot and be a tough out in the Western Conference.
“Yeah, right around that, I say between sixth and 10th,” said Chalmers in a one-on-one interview with Heavy Sports of where the Warriors would finish. “The thing about that team, nobody would want to see them in a seven-game series, and that’d be the tougher part with those guys with their basketball IQ. The way they move and the way they can lock in and really focus on a series, that’ll be a tough out. I think that’d be the goal just to stay around that five or six marking and just be a tough out in the playoffs.”
Warriors Would Have Oldest Core in NBA With LeBron James Move
The Warriors appeared primed to make a move for James, with Draymond Green declining his $27.7 million player option in an attempt to clear up cap room to entice the four-time MVP to sign with Golden State. Green is expected to be back on a multi-year deal as he waits out Golden State’s moves in free agency.
Golden State would obviously be an interesting situation given James and Curry are two of the best players of this generation and matched up in four consecutive NBA Finals between 2015 and 2018. They also more recently led Team USA to gold in the final game, with Curry nailing clutch shots on his way to a team-high 24 points, while James chipped in with a game-leading 10 assists.
However, it’s worth noting that it would be an extremely old core. Curry will be 39 years old next season, Green will be 37 and assuming Jimmy Butler is back, he’ll also be 37 years old. Butler is also recovering from a torn ACL in January and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for the start of the season.
While Golden State did show some promise in their early return following the Butler trade during the 2024-25 season — they advanced to the semifinals with Curry suffering an injury — they have finished sixth or worse every year since the 2019-20 season with the exception of the 2021-22 season, when they won the NBA Finals.
We’ll see what James ultimately decides, but it would definitely be a dream scenario for many NBA fans to see “The King” land in Golden State with Curry.
Mario Chalmers Returning to South Florida as Member of BIG3’s Miami 305
While Chalmers is no longer playing in the NBA, he is keeping busy with the BIG3 League. Chalmers is a star player on the Miami 305, one of the eight teams in Ice Cube’s basketball league. The Miami 305 are the defending champs, with Chalmers hitting the game-winning shot in last year’s title game. The roster also features former Heat top draft pick Michael Beasley and longtime NBA veterans Reggie Evans and Lance Stephenson.
Chalmers will be returning to South Florida during Fourth of July weekend to represent the Miami 305 as they play at the Florida Panthers‘ home arena, Amerant Bank Arena. They’ll be facing off against the Chicago Triplets.
“This is actually my sixth season, I was playing overseas,” Chalmers explained. “I just got tired of being overseas, wanted to stay home, be spending time with family, and still have the opportunity for my kids to watch me play. Rashard Lewis, who was my teammate in Miami, actually got me involved, reached out to me. I wanted to play, they picked me up in the draft, and I’ve been here ever since.”
When asked who is the best player in the league, the 40-year-old Chalmers said that it’s Beasley, the former No. 2 overall pick of the Heat back in 2008.
“It’s Michael Beasley,” said Chalmers. “One on one, a gifted scorer in basketball. It doesn’t matter where you put him, he’s gonna be able to score. Just having a guy like that, he can do isos and command a lot of attention. And then you got shooters like me, rebounders like Reggie, and another guy like Lance who can get his own. It makes us a tough team.”
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