Mario Chalmers Proving His Best Role for Miami Heat Is as No. 1 Point Guard

NBA players are human beings and, as such, they have feelings and egos and hangups much like the shorter people who watch them on television every night.

For a handful of players, one of these hangups seems to be the starter/sixth-man distinction. While, prima facie, there wouldn’t seem to be much difference between coming off the bench and being out on the floor for the opening tip—so long as the basic role, minutes and scoring opportunities don’t change much—the change is meaningful for some guys.

Many players simply want the cred that comes with being a starter. Take it from USA Today’s Sam Amick. According to the writer, there’s a laundry list of players who have made it plain that they’re dissatisfied coming off the pine:

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Just ask the Oklahoma City Thunder, who lost James Harden two years ago, in part, because he had no interest in following in Ginobili's footsteps and now have a similar quandary with young guard Reggie Jackson leading into his free agency next summer.

Or the Phoenix Suns, who have point guard Isaiah Thomas making $28 million over the next four years to play that role yet spending his days dreaming of being a starter. 

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Amick added that the Cleveland Cavaliers have a similar problem with Dion Waiters, as do the Golden State Warriors with veteran Andre Iguodala.

And the Miami Heat, though the player in question hasn’t made a peep about it, may have the same issue with Mario Chalmers.

While the 28-year-old has been silent on the question of his role in Miami, so far in 2014-15, it’s clear he’s performing much better in the starting lineup than he is coming off the bench. According to Basketball-Reference.com, the splits are severe.

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In 14 games as a reserve, Chalmers is averaging 10.6 points, 3.2 assists and 2.1 rebounds in 27.5 minutes a night, while posting a 54.4 true shooting percentage. These numbers are in line with his career averages.

But in eight games as a starter, which came while Dwyane Wade was missing time with a strained hamstring, Chalmers blew his averages out of the water. He averaged 17.4 points, 6.5 assists and 3.1 rebounds over 34.6 minutes a night with a stellar true shooting percentage of 61.9.

Granted, this is a small sample size, but this trend has held over his career. Chalmers plays very well when he starts, and is sub-average as a sub.

According to Basketball-Reference.com, across his seven seasons, Chalmers has averaged 6.5 points on a 49.4 true shooting percentage, 2.8 assists and 1.8 rebounds as a reserve in 22.1 minutes a night.

As a starter, those figures balloon to 9.6 points with a 57.2 true shooting percentage, 4.2 assists and 2.6 rebounds in 29.3 minutes a night.

It’s not just the top-line figures either that underscore Chalmers being successful as a starter and not being successful in other roles. By almost every meaningful measure, he’s been better when he plays the opening seconds.

He shoots seven percentage points better from three points, has higher block and steal rates and is even a notch better as a free-throw shooter.

With all this evidence, it’s unclear why Erik Spoelstra insists on bringing Chalmers off the bench and giving starters' minutes to Norris Cole, especially given the latter’s underwhelming numbers.

Cole, in his fourth professional season, is having a career-best year by measure of Basketball-Reference.com’s win shares. And he’s still, by this metric, performing at 36 percent the level of the average point guard.

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And Chalmers, though he said nothing publicly, was stung by his offseason demotion. According to the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson, Dwyane Wade said his teammate was dispirited by the news he lost his spot in the lineup:

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Mario Chalmers thinks he’s the best player on the court no matter who’s on the floor and he’s been a starter pretty much his whole life, so you were a little worried [how he would react to losing his job]…His spirits were down a bit.

But we sat down and had a great conversation about his role at this moment. Nothing is set is stone. Whatever role you have, you have to play to the best of your ability. No reason to whine or cry about it. He’s done a great job for us.

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While there may not be any reason to cry over the demotion, players with greater profiles than Chalmers have been frustrated by a move down in the pecking order.

"Guys are wired like that from a young age," Andre Iguodala told Amick in response to his own move to the bench. "I mean I've been playing basketball since I was five, and you're just so used to just starting the game. Even when you're young, it's 'Starters vs. Scrubs.' That was kind of the (mentality).”

For Chalmers, it's not merely a matter of perception, but rather it's a matter of reality. The Heat would do well to recognize it.