Recently, Raymond Felton and I talked …

Recently, Raymond Felton and I talked about how most NBA teams are pursuing younger players that become available and not going after veteran players as much these days. Have you experienced that as well? And, if so, how frustrating is that? Mario Chalmers: I’ve definitely experienced that. And, yeah, it is frustrating – just because there’s the saying, “A team always wants a winner.” I just feel like with my resume, I’m a proven winner. I’m not a bad guy in the locker room; I’m not a jerk. So, I just feel like for me to not even get a chance and not even get a workout or nothing like that, it’s a little disheartening. But that’s the way the business goes… I’m definitely surprised how they’ve shifted away from [veterans]. Those guys are very important. For me, some of my vets were Dwyane Wade, Bron, Jermaine O’Neal, Jamaal Magloire and Zydrunas Ilgauskas, so I’ve had vets that have actually been All-Stars and they’ve taught me about basketball, about family, about a lot of different things. I just feel like if I was an NBA GM or somebody that’s running an NBA team, I would want a couple of vets on my team, just to make sure my young guys are following suit and not doing too much off the court.