Ira Winderman of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports:
Heat point guard Mario Chalmers has handed over No. 6 to LeBron James, after wearing it during his first two NBA seasons. He instead will wear No. 15.
For Chalmers, it isn’t exactly a sacrifice. He wore No. 15 while playing collegiately at Kansas and wanted to wear it after being acquired by the Heat in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft, but Heat center Mark Blount was wearing it at the time.
Chalmers wanted to switch last season back to No. 15, after Blount was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the offseason, but made his intentions known too late. The Heat instead kept the number open for a future change.
James has worn No. 23 during his first seven seasons, but announced, after a November appearance last season at AmericanAirlines Arena that he planned to shed the number out of respect to legendary guard Michael Jordan.
