Ray Allen is a notorious workout hound, spending hours away from the glare of TV cameras working on his shot while perpetually watching his diet and off-court habits in an attempt to ward off the ravages of time, and a lengthy NBA career. His influence has done wonders for the Miami Heat, since he joined the team in the summer of 2012, not only in helping keep their championship hopes alive last June, but also rubbing off on the squad’s younger members as they prepare for a potential three-peat in 2013-14.
Starting point guard Mario Chalmers is the latest to admit and submit to Allen’s spinach-wavin’ influence, as he joined Allen, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in losing ten pounds in a week in preparation for this season’s training camp. From Shandel Richardson at the Sun-Sentinel:
The rapid shedding caused strength and conditioning coach Bill Foran to jokingly say Chalmers lost "too much, too fast." The positive results are already showing.
"It's worked out pretty good, actually," Chalmers said.
"I feel a lot faster. It helps me get to different spaces on the court and small cracks easier. [Losing the weight] was more of a conscious thing of winning, helping the team. It wasn't an individual bet but what can I do to help the team get better."
Chalmers credits a “bet” with Allen regarding the weight loss, and says that eliminating fried food and soda pop from his diet helped with the loss.

Between practices, shootarounds and actual games, NBA players burn a ridiculous amount of calories daily, so it’s pretty hard to turn to leafy greens when your body is figuratively screaming for sugar in any form, but with Allen’s guidance, it’s probably just as hard to say “no” to the NBA’s all-time three-point shooting leader, about to enter his 18th season and looking no worse for the wear in spite of it.
And if Wade and James are in the best shape of their lives? We don’t want to pre-determine the entire 2013-14 season for you, but we wouldn’t suggest betting against these Miami Heat.