Everyone remembers that fateful day of July 8, 2010, when LeBron James announced to the world that he was “taking his talents to South Beach,” and joining the Miami Heat. There, he, good friend Dwyane Wade and Toronto Raptors star forward would team up to form “The Heatles,” Superteam. They’d go onto win two championships, while playing in four consecutive NBA Finals.
But in order for that trio to be successful they needed the right kind of role players surrounding them. One of those key contributors was Udonis Haslem, a veteran big man who went undrafted in 2002, only to carve out a nice career with the Miami Heat. Most thought Haslem’s days in Miami were numbered with the additions of James and Chris Bosh. That is, until the new trio decided to take less money in order to keep Haslem, a Miami native, around.
Haslem Says Heatles’ Selflessness Kept Him In Dade County
During a recent appearance on the “Pivot Podcast” Haslem detailed how that exchange went, and how he has so much respect for those three because of their selflessness.
“Oh sh*t, I’m out of here, I’m out of here,” Haslem said in the segment. “Because I know how the numbers worked, I know how the money worked. I know what guys’ values was, I know what they worth at the time. I’m thinking, ‘OK, it’s time to move on.”
Haslem was thinking no way the Heat could retain him with three max contracts having to be shelled out between, James, Wade and Bosh. Haslem said he was headed to the arena to thank Heat President Pat Riley for taking a chance on him and allowing him to become a commodity in the league.
Udonis Haslem Almost Left The Heat A Decade Ago
“As I’m pulling off the expressway, I get a call from my agent, the late Henry Thomas. … ‘We got a deal on the table,” Thomas tells Haslem.
“It’s not what you were offered before, but it’s good money. So just for the record, I was offered about $35 million. The Heat only had $20 million.
“But the fact that Bron, CB, and D-Wade all (collaborated) to take less money to make that $20 million available for me, it said enough, because they didn’t have to do that.
“Dwyane understood. Bron and CB don’t know me from a can of paint. They ain’t never played with me, they don’t know nothing about me. But the fact that they was able to say, ‘OK, cool. We need him. We need him to win. That let me know I got to get them boys they money’s worth.
Haslem did just that, as he brought the toughness and physicality that the Heat desperately needed. He also averaged a solid eight points and nearly nine rebounds per game. His ability to pick-and-pop with the three stars was also a welcome sight.
Haslem To Retire At Season’s End
Not many players get to spend 20 years in the NBA, and definitely not with one team. In fact, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki are the only other players to play that many seasons with one team. And while we’ll never mistake Haslem in that manner, he’s averaged nearly eight points and seven rebounds per game over his career. He was also a key cog in the three Heat championships, not bad for an undrafted, undersized and once overweight guy who got to play his entire career in his native city.
Nowadays he mentors the young Heat players and sets the example of what Riley, head coach Eric Spoelstra and owner Mickey Arison expect from their players.
