Lionel Chalmers, Jr. (born November 10, 1980) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player who currently works as an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

(NBA). He is 6'0" (1.83 m) in height and played at the point guard position.

Amateur career

Chalmers played his first three years of high school basketball at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons in

Schenectady, New York Schenectady () is a city in Schenectady County, New York, United States, of which it is the county seat. As of the 2020 census, the city's population of 67,047 made it the state's ninth-largest city by population. The city is in eastern New Y ...

. He then transferred to Albany High School for his senior year. Chalmers attended

Xavier University Xavier University ( ) is a private Jesuit university in Cincinnati and Evanston (Cincinnati), Ohio. It is the sixth-oldest Catholic and fourth-oldest Jesuit university in the United States. Xavier has an undergraduate enrollment of 4,860 stud ...

, where he played

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

for four years as an undergraduate and later as a graduate student. As a senior, he led Xavier to the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament. He was inducted into the Xavier University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2015.

Professional career

Chalmers was drafted by the

Los Angeles Clippers The Los Angeles Clippers are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Clippers compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Pacific Division in the league's Western Conference. The Clipper ...

in the second round of the

2004 NBA Draft The 2004 NBA draft was held on June 24, 2004, at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and was broadcast live on ESPN at 7:00 pm ( EDT). In this draft, National Basketball Association teams took turns selecting amateur colle ...

with the 33rd overall pick. He played in 34 games in the 2004–05 season with the Clippers, averaging 3.1 points per game and 1.4 assists per game in 12.0 minutes per game. He was traded to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference Northwest Division. Founded in 19 ...

on August 20, 2005, along with Marko Jaric in exchange for

Sam Cassell Samuel James Cassell Sr. (born November 18, 1969) is an American professional basketball coach and former point guard who serves as an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Drafted 24th overall i ...

. He played for the Timberwolves in the 2005–06 NBA preseason, but he was released into free agency before the regular season commenced. He played in the Greek A1 league with AEK Athens BC from November 2005 to February 2006, when he then joined

TAU Cerámica Club Deportivo Saski-Baskonia, S.A.D., commonly known as Saski Baskonia (), also known as Cazoo Baskonia for sponsorship reasons, is a professional basketball team that is based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain. The team plays in the Liga ACB and the ...

of the Spanish ACB. He played with the Phoenix Suns' summer league team during the summer of 2006, but he was not retained by the Suns. He also played for the

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The team plays its home games at ...

during the 2006 preseason. After the Hawks waived him before the regular season began, Chalmers signed with Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari of the Italian second division in December 2006. In May 2007, he signed with the Spanish ACB club Basket CAI Zaragoza. In July 2007, Chalmers moved to the Italian first division team Benetton Treviso. After spending a season in Italy, he signed with the Russian club Universitet Yugra Surgut. He had a successful season in Surgut, as he was the top scorer of the Russian Basketball Super League with 21.4 points per game. In the 2009–10 season he played with another Super League club,

Enisey Krasnoyarsk BC Enisey (russian: БК Енисей) is a Russian professional basketball team from the city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Since the 2011–12 season, Enisey plays its national domestic league games in the VTB United League. The team colors ...

. In July 2010 he signed with BC Lokomotiv Kuban. In 2012, he joined

Aliağa Petkim Aliağa Gençlik S.K., known as Aliağa Petkim for sponsorship reasons, was a professional basketball team from the district of Aliağa in İzmir, Turkey. Their home arena was the Enka Sport Hall with a capacity of 2,500 seats. The team competes p ...

of Turkey. In October 2013, he signed a one-year deal with

Levski Sofia Levski Sofia ( bg, Левски София) is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 ...

. With them he won the National Basketball League of Bulgaria. In July 2014, he signed with Chalons-Reims of the French LNB Pro A. On January 9, 2015, he parted ways with them.

Coaching career

Chalmers began his coaching career in 2017 as a video coordinator of the Orlando Magic, becoming an associate coach/player development two years later. On August 8, 2021, he became one of the most important full time assistant coach with the Magic.

Personal

Lionel's cousin,

Mario Chalmers Almario Vernard "Mario" Chalmers (born May 19, 1986) is an American professional basketball player who last played for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA G League. He was selected as the 34th overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft by the Minnesota ...

, formerly of the Kansas Jayhawks, was picked in the second round of the 2008 NBA Draft by the

. He was later traded to the

Miami Heat The Miami Heat are an American professional basketball team based in Miami. The Heat compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division. The club plays its home games at FT ...

, with whom he won 2 consecutive NBA championships.HEAT Acquire Draft Rights To Mario Chalmers
/ref> He also has a wife and 3 children.

Notes

External links

@ aek.com
Player profile
@ legaduebasket.it * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Lionel 1980 births Living people AEK B.C. players African-American basketball players Aliağa Petkim basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Bulgaria American expatriate basketball people in France American expatriate basketball people in Greece American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Spain American expatriate basketball people in Turkey American men's basketball players Basketball players from New York (state) Basket Zaragoza players BC Enisey players BC Levski Sofia players Dinamo Sassari players Greek Basket League players Liga ACB players Los Angeles Clippers draft picks Los Angeles Clippers players Pallacanestro Treviso players PBC Lokomotiv-Kuban players Point guards Reims Champagne Basket players Saski Baskonia players Sportspeople from Albany, New York Xavier Musketeers men's basketball players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people