Miami Heat Players Lose 10 Pounds Each on Bet

The NBA offseason is the worst place to go looking for fantasy basketball advice.

Every player is in the best shape of their lives, and every one is poised to have a career year.

Whether shedding fat or adding muscle, changing body types are reported like Jenny Craig commercials. A quick eye test often shows that most of these miracle stories are told by paid actors; they're not true-life testimonials from actual customers.

But the Miami Heat's weight-loss story seems different. There's an added element of motivation for these players to—wait for it—actually improve their bodies: money.

Via Shandel Richardson of the Sun Sentinel, four players from the two-time defending champions (Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, Mario Chalmers and Ray Allen) bet each other to see who could drop 10 pounds in a week.

While this quartet all appears to be in tip-top shape, starting point guard Mario Chalmers might have the been the biggest winner (or loser, rather) of the group. As Miami's strength and conditioning coach Bill Foran joked to Richardson, Chalmers lost "too much, too fast."

Chalmers told Richardson he's seen nothing but positive results from the wager:

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I feel a lot faster. It helps me get to different spaces on the court and small cracks easier. [Losing the weight] was more of a conscious thing of winning, helping the team. It wasn't an individual bet but what can I do to help the team get better.

"

I would have guessed the Heat went the storybook route and used the South Beach Diet to change their physiques, but Richardson said Chalmers' plan was simpler than that—cutting out fried foods and soda and adding more salads to his menu.

No word yet on how much exercising in a burning building helped his cause.

Just hearing about this gets me motivated but more so for the fried foods and soda that Chalmers has left behind. I've taken enough economics classes (one) to know that a lowered demand should mean a lower price. That's something I can certainly support.

I guess that's why I'm sitting at a desk, and the newly sculpted Chalmers is preparing to lead his team on a quest for a three-peat.

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