Udonis Haslem hasn’t been a regular for the Miami Heat in terms of playing over the last 5 years or so, but the veteran has still maintained his spot on the roster. A lot of this is thanks to his understanding of the winning culture that Coach Erik Spoelstra and Pat Riley like to build in Miami and it showed in his recent altercation on the court with Jimmy Butler.
In a game against the Golden State Warriors, UD and Butler got into it, with Haslem telling Jimmy he would ‘beat his a**’ after a disagreement between Butler and Erik Spoelstra had escalated. While it was treated as a big deal by fans and the media, the Heat insisted that nothing was wrong. And Gilbert Arenas seems to agree, he said as much on his ‘No Chill with Gilbert Arenas’ podcast.
“I watched Miami when Haslem and Jimmy Butler got on the court,” Arenas said. “Haslem is a shark who’s teaching the next shark what a shark is. They had that beef in a two-game loss. This was just a second ass whooping. This wasn’t a six-game losing streak.
“That shark don’t want a six-game losing streak, so he’s challenging the next one, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa, you laughing? What’s going on? I want to challenge you,’ and I need to see him respond.”
While there is some truth to this, a public fight of that sort is still not a good look for an organization that is all about building a culture of winning. Butler is a fiery character, something he has proved at multiple stops during his career, and a lack of wins is sure to bring out frustration from within the whole roster, not just him. The Heat will need to get back on track though, they currently find themselves on a 4-game losing streak.
