Adding insult to injury, the Memphis Grizzlies waived point guard Mario Chalmers on Thursday, a day after he ruptured his right Achilles tendon.
The injury, which occurred in the third quarter of Memphis’ 116-96 road loss to the Boston Celtics, will keep Chalmers out for the rest of the season.
Chalmers came to the Grizzlies in a Nov. 10 trade with the Miami Heat, and he produced 10.8 points and 3.8 assists per game in 55 contests with Memphis.
Grizzlies general manager Chris Wallace said in a statement: “Mario did an incredible job for us since coming to Memphis. Right from the start, he embraced his change of scenery and endeared himself to his teammates and coaches on the court and the Memphis community off of it.
“He has been an important part of our success this season, both coming off the bench and when called upon as a starter. But with Mario’s season-ending injury and our already depleted roster, it became necessary to free up a roster spot.”
Chalmers tweeted, “I wanna thank all my fans for the good well wishes. Just a little minor setback for a major comeback.”
Chalmers, 29, was Miami’s second-round pick in 2008 out of Kansas, and he was part of the team’s championship seasons with LeBron James. In 580 career games (390 starts), he averaged nine points, 3.8 assists and 2.5 rebounds per game.