Obama pardons Chalmers for on-court mistakes

Miami Heat's Chris Bosh, right, yells while talking with Mario Chalmers (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, in Miami. The Heat defeated the Cavaliers 92-85. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Miami Heat's Chris Bosh, right, yells while talking with Mario Chalmers (15) during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, in Miami. The Heat defeated the Cavaliers 92-85. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

In case you haven’t been keeping up with the team dynamics of the defending NBA champion Miami Heat, well, Mario Chalmers gets yelled at. A lot. (See above photo of Chris “Velociraptor” Bosh in the face of his prey.)

Poor Rio. When he played at Allen Fieldhouse, thousands of adoring fans screamed for him. Now the most popular player on the planet howls at him. Look how enraged team/NBA alpha dog LeBron James gets with Chalmers during this timeout against the Indiana Pacers in late December:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5jXkcD_56Q

Hey, don’t worry about it, people. Bron was sorry.

This is nothing new for Chalmers, of course. Even Bosh, the least revered member of the Heat’s “Big Three,” has turned shouting distance into close-talking with the sixth-year point guard on national television…

Multiple times.

Finally, on Tuesday, someone with clout had Chalmers’ back. During the Heat’s trip to the White House, when President Barack Obama honored the NBA’s back-to-back champions, the commander-in-chief couldn’t pass up an opportunity to give the Heat grief about the way they jump all over Chalmers.

Congratulations to Chalmers on the presidential pardon for his on-court miscues.

President Barack Obama holds a basketball and Miami Heat basketball jersey and shakes hands with Miami Heat player Ray Allen during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House in Washington,, Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2014, where the president honored the 2013 NBA Champion basketball team on their second-straight title. Behind them are Miami Heat forward LeBron James, team president Pat Riley is second from left, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra is at left. . (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

See. Now all the Heat are happy. Thanks, Obama.

Not so fast, Xavier

Los Angeles Lakers forward Xavier Henry, left, shoots past Miami Heat's Mario Chalmers, right, and Chris Andersen during the first half of an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)

When Los Angeles Lakers shooting guard Xavier Henry got diagnosed with a knee injury back on Dec. 30, the one-and-done KU product figured he would be back in the lineup within a week to 10 days.

In this update from Eric Pincus of the L.A. Times, though, it appears Henry could be sidelined longer than anticipated:

According to a team spokesman, Henry
experienced knee soreness on Monday
after running through an on-court
workout on Sunday. Henry will spend
the next several days doing
non-weight-bearing exercises.

Pincus reported Henry, averaging a career best 10.1 points a game this season, doesn’t have a return date anymore for the slumping Lakers (14-25).

And ESPNLosAngeles.com’s Dave McMenamin wrote Tuesday night Henry will be out “at least a week” due to a bone bruise in the swingman’s right knee.

On Monday night, Henry hinted at his frustrations via Twitter:


Markieff bounces back

Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris (11) shouts in celebration after scoring over Los Angeles Lakers' Ryan Kelly (4) during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014, in Phoenix. The Suns defeated the Lakers 121-114. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

After enduring a scoreless outing and an ejection in Phoenix’s previous two games, Suns backup power forward Markieff Morris returned to the land of productive NBA players Wednesday with 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the Suns’ 121-114 victory over the L.A. Lakers.

The Bright Side of the Sun blog called Markieff the team’s barometer — when he plays well, the Suns have success — but the big from Kansas didn’t get an A+ overall:

Markieff Morris was the Suns best
player early, tallying 9 points and an
assist in his first 6 minutes of play.
He still forced a lot of fallaways and
played poor defense in the post.

And even though Markieff redeemed himself from a production standpoint, his twin Marcus (two points, three rebounds) picked up his bro’s slack in the technical department, earning a whistle on this scuffle, which happened to follow a Markieff dunk, as the Suns failed to get back in transition:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP34H0oQL3Q

Keep up with the statistical output of all the former Jayhawks in the NBA daily at KUsports.com.