Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem was not the one to sit and listen to the criticism the side endured after their consecutive losses to the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings.
He took a shot at former NBA stars Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett, who recently said the Heat’s championship run had pretty much passed while also calling out Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo.
Taking to Instagram, Haslem fired back. You can view the post below:
Udonis Haslem has some words for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce 👀 pic.twitter.com/lFrBV0MKMp
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) October 30, 2022
“No matter what you say, it won’t change that ass whooping y’all took back in the day!!! I know a lot about windows closing cause we slammed y’all shit and locked y’all suckas out forever ever!!! #L7 #sixgamesinyallalreadyhating”
The veteran was referring to the Heat beating Garnett and Pierce’s Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets in the postseason during the Big Three era and made sure that the duo didn’t forget it.
NBA Star Paul Pierce Says Bam Adebayo Has Been Inconsistent
Paul Pierce was critical of Bam Adebayo’s performance so far in the season, while Kevin Garnett felt the load on Jimmy Butler has to be eased in order for the Heat to get their campaign back on track.
Speaking on their podcast, Ticket & The Truth, the duo outlined specific aspects of the game, hoping that Miami would rectify the errors:
“I think with them, they gotta do it collectively, and I just ain’t seeing it right now,” Pierce said. “Like Bam, we thought he was gonna turn into a perennial All-Star, and he’s kind of been up and down. The only consistency they probably got is Tyler Herro.”
Garnett hoped that the unit had him guessing about who they really were:
“They used to be known as a defensive team that can score the ball. Now, they done turned into a 3-point shooting team with a bunch of ball movement. I’m still trying to figure out who they are. They don’t really have no identity. Like you said, Jimmy Butler, like you say that to say, ‘So what? I’m supposed to wait 82 games to see if Jimmy Butler gonna give me something like some 36s, some 40s, some 45s?’ He doesn’t even look like he has that type of energy to do some s*** like that.”’
The Heat have slumped down to 2-5 and will look to make amends when they play the Warriors and the Kings again. As Haslem wrote, the side will look to rediscover the mojo that saw them put up an impressive regular season display last year.
