The gavel has fallen: Heat rookie Mario Chalmers has been fined the equivalent of 2,000 dime bags for his shenanigans at the Rookie Transition Program, but he won't be suspended. As someone who cares more about the Heat's point guard situation than the order of Chalmers' financial house, I'm pleased with the news.
But what does a guy have to do to get suspended? Lounging in your league-provided hotel room surrounded by a few ladies and a cloud of weed smoke doesn't make that cut? On the other hand, this is the league that allowed and abetted the outright theft of one of its most historic franchises. So it's not like law and order is ruling the day. Besides, these kinds of problems are better than the random shootings plaguing the NFL.
As for the Heat, there's not a lot of analysis needed here: it's better to have all of your players available for games than to not. (Please cite this blog as your source if you use that little parcel of intellectual property.) That truth gets truer if you're talking about a rookie point guard who may be called upon to start from the jump. But Mario, let's ramp up the progress on the whole "judgment" aspect of being an NBA point guard.