So when people ask me to dream big that's that's my definition is two two high school championships one is like a double a two nba like as a kid you think about winning at the highest level of each moment you at yeah like high school the highest moment you could do is winning championship college highest moments winning championship nba highest moment winning championship yeah and i've been able to do that and been successful in all those aspects so.
Um the definition of dream big for me is don't let anybody tell you that you can't do anything because everything is possible that was professional basketball player mario chalmers and he's part of a small group of alaskans to be drafted to the nba including guys like carlos Boozer, and Trajan Langdon.
He's won championships at every level. Two high school championships, one NCAA championship, the one where his three-pointer put the game into overtime, with his team taking the win, and two NBA championships. He was in the NBA for nine seasons. Seven years for the Miami Heat, one for the Memphis Grizzlies, and one waived because of an injury. In those nine years, he was part of 99 playoff games. He played alongside guys like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade.
He was the starting point guard for the Miami Heat when they won two championships in 2012 and 2013. He says the only thing he has left to win is an Olympic gold medal. In 2016, Mario tore his Achilles tendon. It was a pivotal moment in his career, one that eventually led him to retiring from the NBA. But before he was comfortable with retiring, he tried making his way back by way of playing in G League and overseas.
Overall, he enjoyed his time playing outside the NBA, but he found himself reflecting on his career more than he was trying to regain it. He found himself being proud of his accomplishments and accepting this new chapter of his life, where he's a full-time dad. He says it really dawned on him in 2021 when the Miami Heat signed him to a 10-day contract. He says that even though he didn't get to play, it gave him the closure he was seeking.
Being able to walk off the court healthy and on his own terms. So here he is, Mario Chalmers. Welcome to Chatter Marks, a podcast of the Anchorage Museum, dedicated to exploring Alaska and the circumpolar north through the creative and critical thinking of ideas, past, present, and future. Music. I spent some time reading your mom's book, The Ball is in Your Court, Embracing Your Child's Dream. And in your foreword, you talk about how your mom has always encouraged you
to find a quiet place to work through tough decisions. Do you still do that? All the time. That's one of the things that definitely stuck with me. Before any time I make a major decision or do a major event or something, I just take a little time to myself just to reflect and, Just think about what I want most out the opportunity and how I want to attack the opportunity. So it's just a good preparation point. Yeah. And I wonder if that preparation has changed over the years or has it
relatively stayed the same? No, it's relatively stayed the same. Even before games, I would do the same thing. So it's always something that stuck with me just for moments, big moments. Do you remember the last tough decision you worked through um retirement that was the biggest thing um the last tough decision was um decide whether i want to keep trying to get back to the nba or go overseas or just be done with you know chasing that dream or fulfilling that dream and.
You know once you kind of go through what i went through um had the career that i had and you get to the end and you're trying to figure things out and you think it should be a little bit easier than what it should be and it's not um it just kind of takes you a different way it kind of puts things in perspective and it shows you what's important now um and what's going on now especially with having kids having a family yeah um you know just try to put my kids first and make sure they get to live
their dreams like my parents did for me and is that what's important right now your family your kids very much so especially my kids i mean i got a daughter um 13 eighth grade she's one of the top eighth graders in the country right now so that's great and then my son is 16 my two oldest they're still they're hooping you know doing good getting the aau circuit so it's just fun to go around and travel and watch them play what was that transition like you know from going
from being one of the best nba players to focusing on being a dad you know, full time. Um... I don't know. It's kind of weird because you still have that itch to go play, especially when, like, for me, I train my kids. I work them out. So it always happens. Like, right after I finish training them or working them out or watching a game with them or take them to a game, it's like, man, I want to be out there playing so bad. But, you know, how the saying goes, father time is undefeated.
And, you know, me about to be 38. And, you know, I kind of see the end of things. And, you know, it's just good to, you know, switch gears. It's becoming more fun to switch gears and live through them and, you know, still have my own accolades where people try to tell them, try to tell my kids they got to live up to being their dad. And their biggest thing is like, no, we're going to make our own journey. And, you know, that's perfect for me. Like, that's how I was as a kid.
Like, I had Trey Gelatin, I had Boozer to look up to, but I also wanted my own journey and to leave my own legacy. And that's how my kids are. They think like I think. Yeah. And you tell them that, that, you know, you don't need to aspire to the things that I aspired to, you know, follow your own path. Yeah, I preach that to my kids, follow your own path. Because, I mean, like, realistically, some of the stuff I did is unrealistic.
Going into the national championship, I mean, winning the championship on every level, you know, especially two NBA championships. Like, not a lot of people get to do that, especially with the team I had. So, you know, I don't take those moments for granted, but I also understand how hard those moments are to come by. Mm-hmm. When you are sitting in the bleachers, watching your kids play ball, do you have to stifle yourself sometimes to not vocally coach them from the sidelines?
Kind of, but not really. For me, it's a little bit different. My dad was my coach and my mom, she also coached me. So when they used to be on me in the crowd or telling me, I didn't like that. So for my kids, I kind of put them in the picture, try to treat them like how I want to be treated. So I don't really say much to them on the court. If they look at me, they want some advice or some pointers, I'll do a little gesture or show them something.
But for the most part, after the games is when we have our conversations, when we talk about the game and how they feel and what to expect or what they could have did better. Something you said earlier was and i'm paraphrasing that you had to make a decision you know whether to go back to the nba or pursue going back to the nba or not can you walk me through that process oh man um you know sort of the the story of me tore my Achilles in the 2014-2015 season.
That left me at nine years for the NBA. And, you know, trying to get back, I actually did make it back for the season after that with the Grizzlies. But, you know, going to that season, I was told just to get healthy during that season and show that I still could play a little bit. And whatever happened, it didn't happen that way. And, you know, they never re-signed me, and they never told me why or anything.
So it was it was more of a soul of why why the league doesn't want me anymore why did i get passed over was i not good enough what am i doing wrong it was more about so finding those answers instead of realizing that five times undefeated like the nba doesn't wait on anybody so if you're not there when they're ready for you then they're on to the next one and you know that's the hardest part to accept yeah have you accepted it i definitely accepted it um
you know what really helped me was that 10 day with miami heat um even though i didn't get to play with on that 10 day it was it was an opportunity for me to to bring closure to something that was seeking um you know just be able to walk off the court on my terms um fully healthy that's the main thing fully healthy. And, you know, just be able to walk out of that arena with a smile like, yeah, I gave 9 1⁄2, almost 10 years of service of my life to one of the greatest dreams a kid can have.
Yeah. And, you know, just accepting it and still, you know, still being part of the NBA, still talking to players, still helping out, giving pointers. And, you know, a lot of young guys look up to me and call me OG. I mean, sometimes when, you know, they see me. So it's good that, you know, I not only made it to the NBA, but I left a mark and I left a name and people recognized me. Yeah, absolutely. You mentioned Trajan Langdon and Carlos Boozer earlier.
What's it like being part of such a small group of Alaskans to be drafted to the NBA? It's amazing, to be honest, just because the kids look up to us. And then our peers, people that are older than us, they always say something. They're always proud of us, especially for me. Me being the younger out to three, I kind of hung out with the older crowd just because the older crowd helped me get to where I wanted to go.
And, you know, so going back home or being able to talk to those people still to this day to Antonio Weiss, the Muff Butlers, people that was really meant something to me in my career, my life that, you know, are proud of me and still to this day still show me love and still show me support. Yeah, you mentioned muff butler, you know back in 2019 I got the opportunity to interview him and what an amazing story he has and what an incredible person He is do you And he was your coach, right?
No, actually, uh, muff was my trainer. I actually call him uncle muff like that's real family to me so like um, you know before before when I first got to alaska, you know, my parents was in the military my dad was in the air force so when i got first got to alaska um my dad was still traveling he wasn't there all the time so it would be muff that would take me to the gym work me out help me work on different aspects of my game and i feel like for my family like my mother she was a.
Tremendous great defender so i got my defense from my mother my dad was a great shooter so i got my, shooting from my dad but the in-between game neither one of them had and i got that from like Muff would take me to the gym all the time and we just work out. So a lot of my stuff, a lot of my game, I do credit to Muff Butler just for helping me out and teaching me and showing me different things. Like there's a lot of people that helped me out from Muff Butler to Antonio Weiss, Taeyana Turner.
Of course, Trajan would take me to the gym. Boozer, I didn't really know Boozer until we got to the league, just because, you know, he's from Juneau. So that's kind of far from us. But even now, me and Boozer still talk all the time, trying to work on something to do a camp or something in Alaska together. So just being part of those guys and, you know, being fun, being from a small city and, you know, being able to represent. Yeah, yeah.
And how would you describe your childhood growing up in Alaska? For me, it was fun. It was definitely tough just because, you know, a lot of coaches doesn't come to Alaska to see you play. So for me, you know, once I started getting recognized, started getting my name in high school, I would leave every Thursday and come back Monday.
And, like, I take my hat off to my principal at Bartlett, to my teachers at Bartlett, just for helping me fulfill my dream, make sure that I would have my work before I was done, give me opportunity to make sure I'm getting my work done and turning it in and being on my grade. So for me, thinking back at it, a lot of people reached out to help me out to get to my destination. And when you're growing up, you don't really see that. You don't really understand it to your way. You appreciate it.
And you're going through the same thing with your kids. And you see, man, it does take a village to raise a child. I had a lot of help in Alaska that looked out for me in my community. So I always represent my community. When you think about that help that you received back in Alaska and, you know, now that you are really focused on your family, really focused on your kids, them playing ball. Do you have moments of reflection where maybe a story pops up of these people that helped you in Alaska?
Definitely. I got a story about each one of them you really want to hear yeah, okay so the first story about Trajan so Trajan used to come back and take me to the gym I want to say I was probably like 7th, 8th grade he was just at Cleveland, so I remember one day we was at Elmendorf Air Force Base so we were working out and you know for me I never really liked working out I'd rather go play to work on my game and he made me sit there and work out with him for a whole
hour and a half instead of going to play on the other end with the other kids Okay. And you know from that day, even though I never told him this, that taught me how to separate yourself. The work you put in is not going to show if you just go play games. You actually got to work on your individual game and work on your individual skill to be better, to allow yourself to be able to do those things in the game. So that's one thing I definitely learned from Trajan.
From from tae on airy turner um from him i learned how to really play the point guard and see the floor uh i know the main thing with him we used to work out all the time but for him was a little bit different he would he would actually take me to go play games but he would run the point guard the whole time and make me score and that was one thing how i learned how to score versus different offenses different opportunities picking and choosing my moments but But little did he know,
I was watching him play the point guard, how he would feed, you know, me, which was kind of, I don't want to say the star player, but the person that was scoring at the moment, scoring all the points. And how that kind of translated for me is when I got to the NBA, when I had D-Wade on the left, Brown on the right, CB in the middle. Like, I got all these stars around me, and I got to keep them happy, so I got to know how to pass. I got to know what these players like to get the ball.
I got to be a point guard. You know, even though I wasn't with the perfect point guard, I still knew those moments, knew what to do, and they always trusted me with the ball. They knew I would get the ball in the moments they needed. So that was one thing I learned from him. And then from Muff, I would say from Muff, I just learned how to be a dog. Just run through everything, don't care about who's in front of me. Just have that chip on your shoulder. Like, you're from Alaska.
You're from the biggest state in America with the littlest basketball father. So use that and make Alaska big. So just from Muff taking me to the gym, watching him play, watching him being almost 50 and killing in the Fairview League, it just gave me a demeanor of like, oh yeah, we're here for a reason. I do this for a reason. I put this work in. So this chip on my shoulder is going to take me to where I want to go and you can't stop me. You can't stop me because of the work I put in. Yeah.
Yeah. I like that a lot. I like how Muff taught you to embrace that chip on your shoulder, because a lot of people look at that chip as something negative, you know, something that you need to maybe overcome or work through rather than embracing.
Right definitely gotta do that and then i gotta i gotta tell the story about antonio weiss um yeah that's my guy that's one of my closest mentors right there but for him what he taught me the most and i don't think he knows this was just to smile through everything never let them see the pain on your face okay and like just from watching him playing the favorite league just being around him he's always smiling no matter what like even when he's mad he's smiling
and And that's one thing I took from him was like, don't let people take your joy. Don't let people know that they got you frustrated. If you're frustrated, still smile and go do what you got to do. Always take care of business. So those four people, besides my mom and dad, those four people meant the most to me in my Alaska playing days, I would say. Yeah.
And do you think you were always receptive to learning from all of these other people, or is that something that you had to maybe teach yourself to appreciate? No, I was pretty much receptive in my own way. I know I've always been stubborn. That's just me, my demeanor. I know for a moment we didn't have our stubborn moments but for me.
I'm big on respecting respecting folks that's been where I want to go and, like no matter what you did if you were at a position where I want to get to I'm going to show you the utmost respect just because you did something I haven't done and you did something that I want to do, so for me respect goes a long way treating people the right way so of course I'm stubborn but I don't mean to be.
It's all, it's just my demeanor, but I'm always listening and hearing and figuring out how I could take what you told me and apply it to my life. So I definitely took a lot from them guys and they'll probably say I had my stubborn moments, but they knew I was listening. Yeah, that's great. You know, in that forward that you wrote in your mom's book, you also say that she always encouraged you to dream big. What did that look like to dream big when you were a kid?
Honestly, it looked like two high school championships, one NCAA championship, and two NBA championships. Yeah, yeah. And the only thing, only thing that I missed out on is an Olympic gold medal. And that's the only thing that, that was left for me at that moment. So when people ask me to dream big, that's my definition. There's two high school championships, one NCAA, double A, two NBA. Like, as a kid, you think about winning at the highest level of each moment you're at.
Like high school, the highest moments you could do is win a championship. College, highest moments win a championship. NBA, highest moment win a championship. And I've been able to do that and been successful in all those aspects. So, um, the definition of dream big for me is don't let anybody tell you that you can't do anything because everything is possible. Yeah.
And when you were accomplishing those things, were you like, okay, now it's onto the next thing or were you able to sit with it and appreciate it? That's the thing with me. It was always, it was always what's next.
Okay. and i think that just came from like i want to say that started early in the ymca days um okay, just going against i know i i gotta mention buddy bailey um yeah okay alaska basketball i gotta mention buddy bailey um one of the coldest people i've ever played against on in any level i would say that buddy was amazing but he was really good so um just competing with him in the ymca days growing up from 9, 10, 11,
12, all the way through our high school, it was either his team was winning or my team was winning. So it was never like, it was never a happy moment. It was like, okay, we beat y'all this time. Now we got to see y'all in the spring. Okay. Y'all beat us in the spring. Now we're going to see y'all in the summer. Okay. We went in the summer and now we got high school. So it was always like, what's next. You never really got to enjoy the moment.
So after it was all sudden done and the retirement happened, it was good for me to look back and be like enjoy my accomplishments even though i i enjoyed the moments but even just enjoying the whole atmosphere of saying that i was able to accomplish that yeah.
That always means a lot buddy bailey i i love how you brought up buddy bailey do you have, any specific buddy bailey ymca stories that stick out to you oh man i got stories for days okay i was just telling one of my friends the story the other day and he didn't believe me but i want to say we was either seventh eighth grade and we were playing buddy for the championship. And I hated Buddy, not gonna lie. I mean, not as a person, but I just hated playing against Buddy because Buddy
was really good. Okay. And Buddy was really deceptive and I hated that. And he always, I won't go lie, Buddy used to get the best of me sometimes and it would always be like, man, I gotta get him, I gotta get him. So this one time, we're playing in the championship at APU, Buddy goes snowboarding and he breaks his right, I wanna say his shoulder, elbow, or it's either his arm. Breaks his arm. Two days before the championship, I think.
So in my mind, I'm like, oh, yeah, we got this one. This is easy. We got nothing to worry about. Buddy plays. And I want to say Buddy had probably 20, 25, almost 30 with his left hand the whole game. Okay. And I was amazed. I thought Buddy was going to the NBA from that game right there. I was amazed by Buddy. So that's the one story that sticks out with me about Buddy is when he broke his arm, he just killed us with the left hand.
Like buddy was that good wow that is wild but he was that good but then i got my give back in the state championship when he was at wasilla so i got the last i still talk to buddy this day and i still remind him about that so yeah i got the last laugh buddy oh that's awesome you know i wonder. When you were in the nba you know how often were you thinking about those moments you know where You're battling it out with Buddy Bailey. You're learning from Muff Butler.
Or were you very much present and in the moment? A little bit of both. I say that just because when you get in them heat of the battle moments, you got to think of successful times when you was in the heat of the moment. And just like I said with Muff, how Muff put that chip on my shoulder just gave me that demeanor like you never want to lose in them heated moments. And then, like you said, Buddy, I had the most heated moments against Buddy
growing up. So it was kind of like, I've been here before. I've been successful in these moments. I'm a dog. I got to do this. And it's just like, you don't want to let nobody down on your team, the fans, yourself, anybody down in a moment. So it's just an extra way to lock in, an extra way to make sure that you're ready for that moment. You know, the famous saying, you can't be ready for something that you've never
been there before. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And how would you describe yourself as an athlete when you were younger? I was just an athlete, I think. I was really dedicated to basketball. I liked track. I wanted to play football, but it was just too cold for me. I couldn't get hit in the wintertime. I was cool on that. Basketball was just the same journey. It was the indoor sport for me. I played everything. I was always playing basketball.
Everybody hung around with, from Doug Hardy to Nick Showers to Muff Antonio. You know, like everybody played basketball around me. So it was easy to just to call somebody and go to the gym and get some games going. So that's one thing we stayed playing. Who's always playing? Yeah. So you'd go to school and you do your work and school would get out. And the next thing on your mind was basketball. I'm not going to lie. Basketball was on my mind during school. Oh, it was. Okay. Okay.
I thought about basketball 24-7 just because I knew I was real passionate about it. I knew that's what I wanted to do. It'd be in school like, okay, if I get this done, I go practice. If I get this done, I go get some shots up. If I get this done, I can still keep playing. So everything was so I can go play the basketball. And when you started playing college basketball, were you surprised at how much more involved and all-encompassing it was compared to Alaska?
Um... Kind of, just because when I went to KU, being in a college town, you know, we don't have no D1 school in Alaska. And UAA is the closest thing where everybody rallies too. But at KU, it was different. It was everybody was there. Like everybody from that town is rooting for one school. And that's a little bit different when you see what one school means to a whole community, basically a whole state, and how dominant it is. So it was a little different aspect.
How do you think you have evolved as an athlete over the years? Just learning my body. That's the main thing. Growing up in high school, I didn't really deal with a lot of injuries. I probably had august slaughter, which was a little groan disease in your knees that caused a little pain in your knees. But I really didn't have no injuries. I didn't really in tune to my body. And then once you get to college, your body started changing. You started going against bigger opponents, stronger people.
And i remember um i remember this one game uh we played ucla my sophomore year in elite eight and they put josh ship on me and josh was like six five 225 i'm six to 180 and like a skinny 180 he just bullied me the whole game and that was one of the worst games i ever played so, that following summer um my main focus was just getting in the weight room and figuring out how to get stronger and getting stronger in my movements so you learn as
you get older you learn just different techniques and different mechanics that that you want to learn that you don't know in high school that you know the game is changing so much once you get to the levels getting faster and faster people are jumping higher and higher so you just got to figure out how to stay with those guys and keep getting better and for me it was the weight room like that helped me out a lot and that was something i never did in high school like i probably would lift,
once every six months in high school i didn't like weights in high school and then it changed when I got to college. You know what it sounds like is... That you keep adopting these new chips to put on your shoulder in a good way and embracing them and using them as fuel. Yes, I love chips. I love it. You hit that right on the head. That's what I do. It's like each moment or each time I go to a new opportunity, I look for something that opportunity that would give me an edge or give me a chip.
I've always been like that. Do you think you think of the game differently now? A lot differently now. Yeah, a lot differently. In what way? I feel like now, you know, growing up, it was always like position basketball. Like you're the point guard, you're the shooting guard, you're this, you're that, you do this, you do that. And now it's just like everybody can do everything on the court.
So I tell my kids, this is what I preach to my kids. It's like, if you could do something that somebody else can't do or is not willing to do, it's going to help you stand out. And that means diving on the loose balls, picking up full court, turning your defender, I mean, turning you to offender when you're on defense, being a selfless basketball player. And I think that's one of the keys that really helped me was no matter where
I went to, I was able to adapt to the people around me. Like if I needed to score, I would score. If I needed to pass, I needed to pass. If I need to get my team going, I need to get my team going. And that's kind of how my kids play. So that's the one thing that I kind of think about now is more what intangibles can you bring to the table? Because everybody's nice now. Everybody has the skills, the height. Like, hey, the basketball world is very much different than when I was growing
up. So that's how I tell them. Work on your intangibles. That's interesting. You say that, you know, everyone is good now. Why is that? Why do you think that is?
Um one is just more freedom in basketball I mean you got seven footers shooting threes now and you got seven footers bringing the ball up the court once you do that you allow more space on the floor more freedom more opportunities and like you just don't have that big sit down there you got, more bigs that are moving more mobile and that's that's the thing like the game is just evolving players are evolving players are getting better players are
working on every aspect of their game instead of like, like a Kareem. Can you imagine a Kareem Abdul-Jabbar shooting threes right now? Or a Wilt Chamberlain, you'd be like, wow. It'd be like different. So imagine Shaq shooting a three. Like Shaq, you 300 pounds, why are you shooting a three when you dominate the paint? Yeah, yeah. But it's just, it's just the game. So it's kind of like, yeah, it's kind of like you just sit back and watch it and be like, wow, okay. It's definitely different.
Yeah, it seems like you are very observant. You know, you're watching the game change since you started. Was there anything that maybe was challenging or difficult for you to accept or get used to? I think the hardest thing for me to accept was for me, working out with Muff, he always had me work on my mid-range game. And, you know, me being a good pick-and-roll player, I was always able to get to my mid-range game, whether it was a jump shot or a floater or anything.
So once I got to the NBA and, you know, got to playing with Spoh that first year, it wasn't a lot of pick-and-roll opportunities. It wasn't a lot of pull-ups. It was like mostly we won threes and we won't get to the paint, mostly to the paint. And it was like, when I went on my 10-day, I was talking to Spoh, and it was amazing because when I was playing with the Heat and Spoh, it was like, we want 60 to 70 paint touches. And our cap was, we don't want to shoot no more than 15 threes.
Now, it's like we want 40 threes and paint touches. It's like, if you imagine you had a team with Bron, D-Wade, hand on the ball.
You got me ray allen mike miller shane battier james jones and we're trying to shoot 43s a game, like imagine that with the type of shooters they had but no we was all paint so now it's kind of like they want those three they want you to shoot 40 to 50 threes a game trying to set the record just to see so that was the hardest thing for me to adjust to was um just trying to attack the paint and then trying to get back to the three yeah that's why
i always say i'd be perfect for the NBA right now because I love shoots. All I want to do is shoot threes. That's the way of the game now is who can get the most threes up. You know, I think there are players who have this presence on the court. They radiate this aura. A lot of times this includes their skill, their knowledge of the game, and their reputation. Whose presence in the game do you think you respected the most?
All the greats, really. from Braun to D-Wade to Melo, Amari Stoudemire, Tim Duncan, Chinobley. I want to say I think my favorite, just the aura around him has got to be Kobe. When I was at Memphis, Kobe's last game at Memphis, I had just got traded there, so I stayed in the hotel.
And that's where everybody stayed at the same hotel. so as a player i'm staying in the hotel with the opposing team and it's probably like 2 000 people outside the hotel just want to see kobe walk across the street to the arena and it's literally, the arena is literally literally across the street it's like you know you know where totem is total movie theaters yeah yeah i do yeah you know where that mcdonald's is right yeah that's how far that's how far
the arena was from the hotel there was literally 2 000 people out there just to see this man get on the bus and go around the corner to the to the arena that's like okay yeah it's like i've seen that i've seen that with brawn with fans hanging out to two three o'clock in the morning waiting for us to land but for kobe just to see like the amount of people and nobody really wanted to autograph or anything they just wanted to see him and it was just like wow like kobe
means that much to these people what do you think that is do you think it has to do with their game or their presence or is it a combination of both or does something else turn these players into these icons um i got a weird answer about that because i think i think it's a little bit of both um people always love a comeback story and i think that's one of the greatest.
Story selling moments ever and you know the whole world turned their back on kobe when that when that whole incident in colorado happened like everybody hated kobe nobody really wanted to be you know kobe adidas dropped kobe everybody dropped kobe so for kobe to rebrand himself and turn himself into an even bigger icon and more liked and like just to be like yo i did something wrong i accepted but you know i'm still human and i think for him to come back and portray himself
still the way he did um you know that's amazing just how the people tried to tear him down and And now everybody loves him and everybody respects him and rest in peace to Kobe. And you never know what happened. You never know. Life is so short. So I'm just glad he was able to get his flowers and his love that he deserved before he passed away. Yeah. How would you describe your presence on the court? Depends who's with me. I always say that. Depends who's with me.
If I got a score, I'm going to be more aggressive. But my demeanor on the court is I like to have fun, especially now. Just now, just playing is more about fun and competing a little bit. But back in the day, like you said, I always had a chip on my shoulder. I always wanted to prove that I could do something that you think I couldn't do.
And that was one of the things that helped me keep that chip on my shoulder was, just proving the doubters wrong and being successful and you know that was one thing you couldn't tell me nothing on the court like I did it all I've been successful in every moment so there's nothing you can tell me Thank you. Music. Do you feel like you had any, I guess, for lack of a better way of putting it, Kobe moments?
Yeah, I definitely had my Kobe moment. My Kobe moment came from hitting the shot in the national championship game. Just from, you know, from that moment and then getting back to campus, having my teachers call my coach and be like, Mario can't come to class tomorrow because he's too much a distraction.
And it wasn't even my fault. It was just kids. like I would have kids literally lining up outside of the classroom wanting me to sign a sports illustrator oh that's awesome yeah when it first came out and then I would have kids come into the class in the middle of a lecture like yo Mario can you sign this real quick and me I of course I'm signing like I love my fans I love I love interacting with people so I wasn't really much paying attention to what the teacher was talking about just because
I knew I was on my way out going to the NBA so I'd rather interact with the fans and and do that so uh that was definitely my Kobe moment just showing all that love and receiving all the love from the KU fans and you know still to this day people still mention the shot, and you know to all the Memphis fans they still walk by me like oh we hate you Mario so it's just fun, it's a good moment to feel like I can truly say I understand what Kobe feels
like in these type of moments so it is one of those yeah. How do you feel like you dealt with fame early on. I feel like I dealt with it pretty good. I mean, I wasn't into too many things. I kind of stayed to myself, stayed with my same crew friends. Yeah, I didn't really do too much. You know, when you play for Miami Heat, playing for Pat Riley, you know, Pat Riley knows everything, can find out anything. So it was kind of like, yeah, I want to stay on the good side of Pat and not piss him off.
So I think I dealt with fame pretty well in that aspect. Did that come from Pat Riley knowing how to find these, I guess. Personal nuggets of other players' personal lives? Or did that start before? Because there are so many people that encounter fame and it blows up.
It does. because of their own personality because of their own you know whatever um i would say i've definitely had my moments where i've enjoyed fame a little too much or the stardom a little bit too much but um i've always been a humble person um like i never got too much wrapped into that and that comes from my parents from their teaching and you know from coach self to being at kansas you know we get treated like rock stars at kansas just because um lawrence is
a straight college town like we're the biggest thing from lawrence to kansas city for until you get to wichita or kansas state so um so we always got treated like a star like that but at the same time you know you can't you can't be uh you can't be rude or a dickhead to your fans like you're nobody without your fans yeah like you don't have a following if you don't have fans you you're just a person out here so i've always respected my fans i've always took the time out to interact with
them i've always took the time back if they talk a little shit i'ma talk a little shit back just make sure it's all out of fun so yeah i mean it's always i've always been that type of person like i like interaction like as long as you keep it respectful i'm gonna be respectful yeah this is a little off topic but as i was writing my questions i came across this video of obama joking with you do you remember that yeah i remember that.
What was that like? Because, you know, I'm watching it and I know that you are, you know, I'm not as into basketball as I used to be when I was younger. But, you know, I know exactly who you are. And I love that you're from Alaska. And, you know, I'm on your team and I'm watching this. And I'm like. Oh my gosh, you know, Obama just said Mario's name.
Like was that was that a surreal moment for you or were you man super surreal like okay okay okay okay that's one of the moments where like i'll tell anybody about that moment just to just because barack obama said my name he said he had my back so like after that moment i would go around miami like i would start i would start messing with my teammates like picking at him like oh you gonna do something i'll call barack like i'll call bro get you out of here so it was just one
the moments like like it was a surreal moment just like you said like wow barack obama really called my name yeah and not only did he call my name he made a joke and not only in that joke he said he had my back i don't know how serious he was about it but a brock obama said he had my back so i you can't touch me so i definitely i definitely enjoyed that moment um like that's that's that's what like you said one of them surreal moments it goes like yeah winning championships meeting the
president like it was just weird like and for me i met two presidents i met bush when we went with the uh we went in college and then i got to meet barack twice and that's just like the interacting with with bush is so much different than the interaction with barack just because barack is a real basketball fan yeah so when he seen me he was like oh yeah you mario you the one you know you kind of like the heart of the team you keep everything going and like when you hearing this from the
president, you kind of like. You run the world. When do you have time to watch basketball? Like, what is going on? And you know me, like, you know what I bring to the table.
So it's just, like you said, it's a surreal moment. Like, that moment was definitely... I don't even know how to uh put that in i don't even know how to describe that moment that's i'm smiling so hard right now i wish i was right back to that moment that was just one of those days like wow yeah and it's not like he just you know saw your name on the roster before the event and he's like oh i'm gonna you know i'm gonna mention this player it's like he,
intimately understands and knows the game and watches it. It was like he felt like he was me in that moment. Like, all right, let's hurry this up. They start yelling at me like they do Mario. I was like, oh man, yeah. So you know what I be going through for no reason. They just be yelling for no reason. So yeah, that was definitely cool. We've been talking so much about your basketball career and these moments that have led to such successes. And I wonder, what does your home life look like?
What do you do when it's just you and your family or you by yourself? Really, I'd be chilling. For me, I'm single. I got four kids, three boys and a girl. My oldest son lives with me now. My daughter lives in Wichita. My oldest son lives in Miami. Me and my other one lives in Detroit. So, like, for me, it's always traveling. Like I said, my daughter's big on the AU circuit right now with basketball, so I'm always following her in the summertime.
You know, I do the big three in the summertime, the Ice Cube League, still play a little bit. But honestly, my day-to-day life, I wake up, a couple meetings, check my business stuff, and then, you know, just wait on my kids, see what they need. You know, like I said, I got my 16-year-old with me, my oldest, So I'm always with him in the gym, just trying to get him working out and make sure he's on the right path and, you know, just following them around. Just it's all about my kids, really.
How would you describe your relationship with your mom? You know, you are very close, but what did that look like?
You know when you were playing basketball full-time and yeah what yeah what did that look like um man it definitely had its moments um like i said my mom my mom's the best uh like she played basketball um growing up in high school and in college and her thing was defense so she was always defense she stayed on me about defense if i didn't play defense she didn't want me to play basketball so okay um that's why defense just meant so much to me um growing up
i always took took heat on the defense end because of her so.
You know once you get to the nba you know defense kind of you know it's kind of hard to play defense 48 minutes for 82 games every day and you know sometimes sometimes people do get the best of you she doesn't like that she's not a fan of that at all so if you can't play defense for the whole 48 minutes that you should be playing so we definitely had those moments those conversations about defense but um i know for a fact she's my big support her um like even now when i still go playing little
tournaments and games and stuff she still tries to tune in like make sure you send me the link so i can watch it so i can tell you what you did wrong and be on yourself um that's just my mom like yeah a lot of this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for her um you know early on she would she was the first one to dedicate her time taking me to the gym and making sure that i stayed in the gym and not into trouble and kept me on the right path so um even even
when the biggest moments happen on the basketball court that's the first person i find just because i know that journey she's the one that put all the stuff in my mind of winning championships and being one of the best and never let nobody get the best of you and you know so every moment i get you know i praise my mom about that or i'll find her and and just tell her that we did it not i did it we did it because without you none of this is possible yeah,
Do you know why defense was so important to her? Because she couldn't score. She couldn't shoot. Make sure you put that in here. My mom could not score. She had a good elbow and a little right-hand hook layup, whatever she called. But other than that, she couldn't do nothing else with the opposite hand. But she'll lock down the football, so that's why.
Have you ever had any dreams that didn't pan out but they led to something else, uh yeah definitely um i would say my whole draft night um okay you know just going through that process uh the real reason why i really came out was because i was told i was gonna be a first round pick in the top 15 um the biggest question about me coming into the draft was could I play the point guard position uh because in college you know they played
me at the two mostly and you know once I went through the workouts and the draft and everybody seen that I could really play the point guard and that I knew what I was doing um I thought my draft stock was rising and you know going into the night of the draft I had to dream that and I was going to be at least a top 20 pick and you know that'd be a dream come true one of the highest pick players from alaska, um just trying to set a standard bar and you know when that didn't happen um
that put the biggest chip on my shoulder was not getting picked in that first round and drop it to the heat so. Actually all of that that dream not coming true actually led to me winning championships and me being teammates with lebron james and d-wade and chris boss and ray allen mike miller like It led me to a whole different career that I didn't even picture myself in. Yeah. Do you feel like that experience maybe adjusted your dreams a bit? Oh, definitely. It definitely adjusted my dreams.
Because, you know, you grow up, you know, for me being number one point guard in the nation, number 12 point guard in the country coming out of high school, I thought I was going to be the man. I thought I was going to be the next Michael Jordan or at least wanted to be the next Michael Jordan. That was my dreams. And, you know, even though I still got to play for championships and win championships, I was never the main vocal point like I was like at Kansas or at high school.
I was always surrounded by good players. So that's what kind of, you know, I won't say deterred my dream, but kind of gave it a different, gave it an extra turn in it. And, you know, that turn was really for the best. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. You know, as I was reading your mom's book, something that really stuck out to me about her was her positivity and perseverance, especially considering some of the hardships she endured. Where do you think she got that from?
Like you said, probably just from the hardships she's a doer growing through the life, growing up.
My mom's been through a lot just from an early age and she's made it through she's survived a lot of things and i think just for her um survival has always been big and once you survive certain things you just feel like you know you're here for a reason and i think my mom she knows her purpose on this world she's she's getting to it when is the last time you talked your mom uh seven o'clock this morning she called me okay she called
me asked me what I was doing so um yeah I talked to my mom if it's not every day it's every other day same with my sister um, like those those are two people I at least got to hear from every day or at least every week do you think that you have your mom's positivity and perseverance I have her perseverance I think I'm more positive than my mom. Oh, okay, okay. I think so, just a little bit. But I definitely have some personal parents. In what way?
Because you know how the older you get, you always think about what if. Like, oh, this can happen. Oh, this can happen if you do that. Me, I'm just kind of like, if it don't happen, it don't happen. Like, it's not going to happen. Like, I'm going to do this. It's not going to happen. It's going to be good. So it's not that she's doubtful. It's just, she, she wants to see the results before she believed the results. And for me, I believe the results and then I see the results. Yeah.
Yeah. It's interesting how both of those perspectives seem to work out. You know, like you're, you are preparing for the worst in some cases, but then other people are expecting the best. Right. And I wonder if just expecting the best is probably the best mindset. Because otherwise you're just kind of stressed out all the time. And I say that from, I'm probably similar to your mom in that way. Yeah. I mean, I used to, I kind of, I would say there's been moments where I'll
be like that, where I'm kind of doubtful. And then, but a lot of the moments where I went in doubtful have actually turned out positive and better than I thought. So that kind of changed my mindset was just a lot of good things happening. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, switching a bit back to basketball, what was it like going from playing for the NBA to playing for G League and then overseas?
It was a lot different, I'll tell you that. The biggest thing for me, I would say, would be the travel, the food, and everything. Like you said, when you're in the NBA, you travel with the best of the best. You got private planes. You got pretty much catered food on the plane.
You get good food wherever and staying in the best of hotels overseas overseas was eye-opening for me um just going to different gyms and they're super small um toilets will be a little hole in the floor and just be like it's just not what i was accustomed to coming from the nba i think my mindset would have been a whole lot different if i went overseas first to the nba um then i would been able to just see to appreciate the
journey of going to the top but once you go from the top level and then you kind of go dwindle down dwindle down a little bit not saying that those leagues are trash but they're just not they don't just not have the money that the nba does or or the support or anything like that it's it's a little different um especially in the g league catching.
Say you got a 9 a.m flight you got to get there at 7 and wait and then you're gonna have a layover somewhere like there's really no straight flights nba it's all straight flights and then overseas same thing is you gotta get to airport super early because it's over it's international um you might have a 10 pm flight you gotta get there at 7 and then you still gotta stop lay over it's just the travel is a lot different and food is a lot different those are the two biggest things okay.
So did it feel like a step backwards from the nba i don't necessarily want to say that because like the basketball was still good it's it's just a living like it's it's overseas is different than america like that's all i can say like g league g league living it wasn't that bad like the travel is the worst thing to glee but glee you're still in america you're still used to what you're used to, you're still around other Americans, you know what I'm saying?
Overseas, you're in their culture, you're in their world. So it's kind of like, if you don't do what they do, then you're not doing anything. Like if you don't eat what they eat. Like for me, for instance, I don't eat pork or red meat. And over there, when I was in Greece, that's all they eat is pork and pig and stuff like that. So it was kind of hard for me to figure out my pregame meals or stuff like that.
And, you know, luckily for me, my team kind of catered to me and they was able to give me, you know, pregame meals without the pork. So if you don't have a good opportunity, if you don't have a good opportunity like that, it could be hard. Yeah. I talked to Trevante Williams on the podcast a couple months back. That's my guy right there. Yeah, he's awesome. He's great. And he said that playing overseas can be lonely. Very lonely. That sometimes you end up spending a lot of time by yourself.
Have you found that to be true for yourself? Yeah, it turns you into a loner, low-key. Okay. I know me and Trevante are very close, so I don't know exactly what he's talking about. But it's like when you're over there, it's like, for me, I played two years in Greece, one year in Italy. My first time was in Italy. Lucky for me, I had pretty much five Americans on my team. That was two from New York, one was from Atlanta, one was from Vegas, and then you had me.
So it was us little group that kind of clicked together. So they made me welcome. They showed me everything. And they had been there before me. So that experience was very, very, very cool. And then when I went to Greece, Greece was a little bit different. Like, I love Greece, by the way. Like, Greece, I'll move to Greece if I could. Okay. Just being there, it's like the culture is different. But my teammates, most of my teammates was from Greece. So they already had families, wives, kids.
So it was like, they'd go to practice, and then they would go to another job. Like, my starting center was also a real estate agent. So he would leave practice and go back to the office. And like, they have different jobs. So it was just kind of like, they don't hang out as much. So I was definitely by myself, just going to eat by myself, going out by myself, going for walks by myself. And it's not, it's not intentionally. It's just like, man, I want to get out and see Greece.
Like I've never been here, but y'all are from here. Y'all got things to do. So I just go view it on myself and just be by myself. And it's like I said, it's not intentionally. It just happens that way just because it's different culture, different atmosphere. Yeah. Yeah, Trevante said that once he got used to those... You know, moments by himself, he was able to maybe gain some introspection, you know, and realize like. Get a different type of knowledge about yourself.
Yeah, exactly. Did you have any moments like that? For me, it was more about realizing what I've done and what I've came from. Like I said, for me going overseas, it was more about trying to get back to the NBA.
And you know i tore my achilles that's what really started that that process is for me it was just looking back and enjoying the moment of winning championships tearing the achilles coming back and being able to you know still play this game at a pretty high level so me those lonely moments turned into reflection and enjoying what i've already did more so than me learning new things about myself yeah that's interesting that you know you're you're going overseas and and thinking
about it as this path to get back to the nba but it didn't end that way did it sure it didn't okay. And what was that like working through all of that, tough. That's one of the hardest things ever happened to me in my life. Just because, you know, from that moment, um, no, the sort of backstory of me tearing my Achilles, uh, playing at Memphis the week before I got hurt, uh, the GM called me into office. He was like, you get us to the playoffs. I'm, I'm summarizing it.
He was like, you get us to the playoffs. we're going to offer you a contract of 60 million plus. So my whole mindset changed of like, oh yeah, I'm ready to run through a brick wall for you guys. This is what you're going to do. So not even listening to my body and knowing that I was already a little fatigued, a little hurt, I tore my Achilles and ended up getting cut the next day from the NBA, from the team.
So just going through that process, that took pretty much two years for me to get back through all the surgeries and recovery and everything. So once I actually got back to that plan, I still wasn't fully myself. I didn't know how to get back to being fully myself.
So that's when Memphis was just like, you know, come back, sign back with us, and, you know, we'll help you get rehab, help you get better, and just show us that you're working, that you could be, you know, to the level that you was where you got hurt. So long story short, that didn't happen. and when I said we got to the exit meeting and the GM wouldn't even look me in my face so I knew that I was kind of like, okay, my time here is done, so what's next? And the overseas opportunity came.
Definitely a lot of fun. I had my moments over there and winning the championship, being with some great guys, learning different cultures. But it was definitely an eye-opening experience. Definitely something to learn from, definitely a hard way to get back, but you learn to fight through the moments when you don't get better. You learn to keep fighting, keep fighting, keep fighting, no matter if you're not seeing no results, you know it's going to happen one day.
And when that breakthrough comes, that's going to be your moment. And that's what the Achilles tear basically did to me. It set me back, held me down, held me down, and then it finally just opened up the door.
And what was that door I'm just being able to get back to myself it's funny because people ask me when did you know you was really ready to play again, and I said I felt the same thing that took me out is the same thing that helped me get back so like I said when I was playing in Boston, took the back step I heard it pop I felt it pop I felt like somebody kicked me the back of my foot so now we fast forward and I'm playing, I'm doing my rehab stuff and I make a move and I
make a power move to jump and it pops again and i'm like oh i know i just didn't pop my achilles again but it was it was like whatever it was it went back into its natural form how it was supposed to be and then from that moment i was good i was able to get back i was able to get my speed back my jumping back my balance back everything was just able to come back faster once i got over that moment and that was just my breakthrough right there not necessarily getting to a team or anything.
It was just a breakthrough of, of being healthy and me feeling back to myself. Yeah. Yeah. Understanding your injury, it sounds like. And exactly because your body has changed at that point, you know, after an injury, your body isn't the same body as it was, you know, pre-injury. And so you have to learn that this is your new body. This is, and you need to learn how to, to work it out. You need to learn how to play ball with it, everything. Right.
To deal with it every day definitely something you got to learn yeah and so now. What does getting back to yourself look like? For me, that means just a confidence thing, a demeanor on the court. Like you said, you know, I've always had a chip on my shoulder. So when I get on that court, that 94 feet, I feel like I'm one of the best to ever do this.
And that's because of the work I put in. So until that moment where I couldn't, when my foot wasn't really back, I didn't have no confidence in myself. I didn't believe that I could do the things that I wanted to do. I couldn't get to the places I wanted to get to on the court. I mean, let alone I couldn't even drive when I tore my Achilles. So it was just a whole learning experience.
It's different when you've been by yourself so long, and then you got to depend on somebody to help you every day with everything, like getting to the shower, moving around, eating. And then you fall dependent on people. And then once you get healed and those same people don't have the same type of time to dedicate to getting you back, then you just got to learn to, you know, be on your own and do things yourself, learn what you need to do to take care of you.
And that's one of the main things that, that I've learned. Yeah. You know, this is, and I'm sure you know this about yourself, but so many people can get stuck, you know, in these ruts. But throughout this conversation, you know, you, when you have found yourself in a rut, your next thought is, how do I get out of this rut? How do I get out of this rut? How do I get to the next thing? And I mean, that's really special. Right. Definitely is.
Time stands still for no man. That's what my grandpa used to tell me. So I got to figure it out. Yeah. Yeah. So looking back on your career so far, do you feel like you accomplished everything you want to accomplish or is there more you want to do? Basketball wise, there's definitely more. I want to win an Olympic gold medal. That is the one thing that I do want to do.
And the only reason I want that is just because I've got high school, I've got college, I've got NBA, I've got overseas, I've got McDonald's. I mean, like every big basketball event or organization I've got a championship in. And for me, that was just completed. Like there's two that I want left. And I'm going to say this is an Olympic gold medal and a big three championship that I want. And when I get those two, like I feel like my career is all the way complete.
And then after you get those two, what does that look like? Does that mean Mario can chill now?
Um it definitely means Mario can chill but Mario's still gonna play like I love the game so much but yeah it's to me it's more of a resume builder like what can you tell how can you tell somebody no that has a championship on every level and not only has a championship on every level but was a major part of those championships like he knows what he's doing he knows what he's talking about and that's that's the biggest thing now I tell the kids that you know
the kids I work out or out around here i tell them it's like um so i might not have been the best player like, ever but you know i did some things that the best player ever has did and has has not done so i mean that's just something like it's just a teaching point. Well mario those are all the questions i have for you i want to thank you for your time your story and also for representing Alaska out there. Thank you, man. It means a lot to me. Do you have anything else you'd like to add?
Nope. Shout out to Bartlett. Got to represent Bartlett all the time. You know, B-Town Bears. But that's it. You know, definitely, if you could put it in there, I just want to give a special thank you to all the people that helped me in Alaska, from Northern Lights ABC teachers to Wendler to Bartlett to everybody, like just the whole city of Anchorage, the whole east side of Anchorage. For more information about the Anchorage Museum, visit anchoragemuseum.org.
This podcast was produced by me, Cody Liska, for the Anchorage Museum. With additional help from Julie Decker. Chatter Marks Music is produced by Keys Open Doors. Music.