Finding players who are loyal to a franchise for their entire careers is not an easy task by any means. But the Miami Heat found that player in Udonis Haslem.
Haslem announced at the beginning of the 2022-23 NBA season that this would be the last time he will don the jersey of the Miami Heat in his career. Now, with more than half of the season under wraps, Udonis Haslem has reiterated his message about retiring from the league.
“I’m done. I’m done no matter what happens,” Haslem said. “I gave my contribution. I think at this stage, there needs to be another voice for these guys. It’s time for somebody to step up and be the voice.”
Over the last few years, Udonis Haslem has gone from a role player to a veteran voice. With that being said, it doesn’t mean that he is not an important asset to the organization. If anything, Haslem’s departure will leave a huge gap in the franchise.
Udonis Haslem:
Undrafted in 2002
20-year NBA carer
(only ten players ever played that long)
3x NBA Champion
Played for his hometown team
147 NBA Playoff games
$71 million in career earnings
Kids pay attention, skill only gets you so far ..
— Ben Stinar (@BenStinar) March 6, 2023
In his 20-year-long career with the Miami Heat, Haslem has averaged 7.5 PPG, 6.6 RPG, and 0.8 APG, certainly not bad for a role player in the league. On top of that, Haslem has also won three NBA Championships with the franchise. Keeping that in mind, following Haslem’s retirement, he will certainly see his jersey hanging in the rafters one day.
Udonis Haslem Has Been Losing Sleep Over The Miami Heat’s Current Form
In the last few seasons, the Miami Heat have quickly snapped out of their rebuilding phase and have established themselves as one of the contenders in the Eastern Conference.
However, in the 2022-23 NBA season, the Heat have somewhat not managed to live up to those expectations. The team is currently 7th in the Eastern Conference and have a record of 34-31.
Considering the Heat’s underwhelming form, Udonis Haslem recently unveiled that he had been losing sleep over it.
“Nobody likes to lose. I’m losing sleep at night, you know what I mean,” Udonis Haslem stated. “This is not the way I wanted my last year to go. But I think definitely for me, nothing has been easy in life and I’ve had to work for everything. It’s just another situation where you got to work, man. For us to get what we want, we got to push a little harder, give a little more and that’s just how it is in life.”
It feels like the Heat’s form this season has definitely played a role in Haslem’s decision to retire from the NBA.
Whether the Heat make it to the playoffs or not is something we will find out in the coming weeks. Until then, let’s hope the franchise offers a role in some capacity after his playing days are over.
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