The ink hasn't even dried on LeBron James' contract with Miami and already the curse of Dan Gilbert has started to take effect. Mario Chalmers, the lone man on the roster before the Miami Thrice agreed to hook up with the Heat, has suffered a high ankle sprain. Chalmers sprained his left ankle during a recent workout and will be casted for the next two to four weeks. High ankle sprains vary from a typical inversion sprain and generally take longer to heal.

In a "normal" ankle sprain the ligaments located on the medial or lateral sides of the ankle are sprained and damaged. However a syndesmotic sprain, or "high-ankle sprain", occurs at the distal tibiofemoral joint. Here the distal ends of the lower legs bones, the tibia and fibula, form the ankle mortise. The mortise is fortified and stabilized by several strong ligaments including the interosseous ligament and the anterior and posterior tibiofibular ligaments. A high ankle sprain occurs when these specific ligaments are over-stretched or in come cases completely torn. Treatment for these sprains is similar to that of a normal medial or lateral ankle sprain. In the case of Chalmers, the injury site will be immobilized, hopefully providing the injury with a better environment for the body's natural healing response to occur.

Chalmers participated in all 82 games during his rookie campaign and was named to the 2008-2009 NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team after averaging 10.0 points and 2.0 steals. However he suffered a sophomore slump last season and eventually lost his starting position to Rafer Alston and Carlos Arroyo. He also missed nine games with a partial ligament tear in his left thumb.