MIAMI — Udonis Haslem is the definition of “Heat Culture” and 21 years later, he’ll now be part of solely 4 different gamers in franchise historical past to have his jersey quantity retired.
The Miami Heat introduced Friday that Haslem will obtain certainly one of the prime honors in staff historical past when his No. 40 jersey is retired on Jan. 19 when the Heat play the Atlanta Hawks at the Kaseya Center.
Haslem, who joined the Heat in 2003 as an undrafted free agent, by no means figured he would win three NBA championships and go down as certainly one of the most beloved gamers in franchise historical past.
Haslem joins a formidable record of Heat gamers with their jersey retired. It consists of Dwyane Wade, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O’Neal, Tim Hardaway and Chris Bosh.
Haslem retired final season after spending his complete 20-year NBA profession with the HEAT, accumulating three NBA Championships, seven Eastern Conference Championships, 12 Divisional Titles, 16 postseason appearances, having by no means missed the playoffs in consecutive seasons, and was an NBA All-(*40*) Second Team choice.
He is certainly one of solely three gamers in NBA historical past to play at the very least 20 years with one franchise, becoming a member of solely Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki.
Haslem completed his profession as a 16-time captain for the Heat, the most in staff historical past, and completed as the franchise’s all-time chief in offensive, defensive and complete rebounds, changing into the solely undrafted participant in NBA historical past to change into their staff’s all-time rebound chief, in response to NBA.com.
Haslem, a Miami native, not too long ago returned to his beloved franchise as the staff’s Vice President of Basketball Development the place his obligations embody being a useful resource to the teaching employees, mentoring each HEAT and Skyforce gamers in addition to representing the group in the group and in enterprise endeavors.
When Haslem retired, he left the followers, group and former teammates a heartfelt message on his Instagram web page:
“20 years…it’s impossible to put into words what these past 20 years have meant, but y’all know me. I’m damn sure gonna try…,” Haslem wrote. “I consider myself extremely blessed to say I can leave this game with no regrets. The championships, the accolades, the brotherhood, man it’s hard not to be at peace. Undrafted to a 3x Champion, All-Rookie 2nd Team, Teammate Of The Year, the oldest player to play in an NBA finals game, Miami Heat’s all-time leading rebounder and longest-tenured player, the list goes on…:”
Heat President Pat Riley shared his love and respect for Haslem in an announcement on Friday.
“It’s about a great legacy, a Thank You moment that has been earned over 20 years of being an incredible championship player and most importantly, the best leader,” mentioned Riley. “He’s going to have his day and I can’t wait to see his jersey hang in the rafters.”
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