The Miami Heat will see a club legend depart at the end of the season as Udonis Haslem is finally retiring and opening up the spot on the Heat that he’s occupied for the last 20 years.
Haslem had a great 24-point showing in his final game, the best performance from him since 2015. The Heat legend shared a heartfelt ‘thank you’ message on Twitter after what could be his final time on an NBA court.
24 Pts, 53% from the field, 3 threes. Not bad for a 42 year old huh? Thankful for 20 yrs, my family, friends, teammates, & fans along this amazing journey. From undrafted to all time leading rebounder.. it’s just work!! Can’t put into words all the emotions I’ve been feeling… pic.twitter.com/lai3FWqi6P
— Udonis Haslem (@ThisIsUD) April 10, 2023
The 42-year-old is unlikely to play again for the team over the course of their playoff run this season. The Heat have to beat the Atlanta Hawks in the 7-8 play-in game to qualify for the playoffs and face the Boston Celtics in the first round. Haslem will likely not be receiving playoff minutes.
The Heat With Big Playoff Hopes
The Miami Heat were the No. 1 seed in the East last season and were one shot away from making the NBA Finals after losing in 7 to the Boston Celtics in the Conference Finals. The Heat will be hoping to face the Celtics in the first round this time around in the 2-7 matchup if they can get past the Atlanta Hawks in the play-in tournament.
The Heat beat the Hawks in the playoffs last season very convincingly, so they’ll hope to find that energy within them to contain this Hawks squad again. But Atlanta is better on paper than last season, and Miami is worse, so this is going to pique the interest of fans around the world.
Udonis Haslem is almost definitely not going to play in the play-in game or even in the playoffs, but it’ll be nice for them to have another playoff run with the man who has won 3 titles for the Heat in the locker room.
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