Udonis Haslem experienced one of the biggest joys any athlete could ever receive: his jersey retirement for the Miami Heat, the team he’s played with for over 20 years. Then he received the worst comment about the achievement that an athlete would ever want to hear: “this one given bro jus saying.”
Former NBA player sports analyst Stephen Jackson posted a tribute to Haslem on his Instagram as a true sign of support for his milestone.
“Felt like all the Real Ones got they jersey retired,” Jackson posted in the caption. “Being solid still in style. Earned not Given. Salute my boy. #Mr305 @ud40 Big Congrats. For all the real ones who will never see this day be proud a real got his just due.”
Paul Pierce implies that Udonis Haslem didn’t earn his number getting retried 👀
The comment triggered Paul Pierce, who dropped his opinion in nuclear fashion. Immediately the polarization began from the fans and athletes. Haslem heard the noise and gave Pierce a mild clapback.
“@paulpierce my first reaction was to chose violence but I’m gon spare cause I know you ain’t like that. You’re entitled to your opinion my boy!!!!”
Talk about a buzz kill; Paul Pierce has been taking his toxic post-broadcast career outlook on tour from the interview circuit to his appearances on the “KG Certified Show” with his former teammate Kevin Garnett.
Udonis Haslem says he doesn’t f*ck with Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett
Haslem was part of all three championships the Heat won and is one of only three players who spent a career of 20 years or more with one franchise. He joins Dirk Nowitzki and Kobe Bryant on the short list. Haslem is also the franchise’s all-time rebounding leader after he beat Alonzo Mourning’s record.
Although he only played in 65 regular-season games over his last seven NBA seasons, Haslem was invaluable to the team as a leader as he went from captain as a player to Heat vice president of player development in retirement.
Still, Paul Pierce’s compartmentalization of Haslem’s impact deserving a jersey retirement is personal, as the Heat have a 4-2 postseason lead over the team since they first met in the postseason in 2010 and Haslem took his own shot at Pierce last month.
“KG and Paul, I don’t f*** with y’all, I’m cool. I see y’all in the grocery store it’s on,” Haslem said on his “The OGs” podcast in December.
To say that Paul Pierce has been unhinged for a while is an understatement, and kicking a man while he is up is just a small example of his toxic avenging.
Recently, he said LeBron James is not among the top five NBA players today, to the utter amazement of Kevin Garnett.
“What? LeBron ain’t top five in the league?” Garnett asked Pierce on “KG Certified.” “Name five other players better than LeBron right now.”
Pierce named Luka Dončić, Nikola Jokić, and Joel Embiid until Garnett couldn’t take it anymore.
“No, no, I ain’t picking none of these n****s over LeBron,” KG said emphatically.
Pierce doubled down, “Giannis [Antetokounmpo] and [Jayson] Tatum.”
“You get your garbage ass out of here,” Garnett said. “What the [expletive] is you talking about? You act like you don’t even know basketball … Respect, n***a 38 and still doing it.”
During another episode on the same show, Pierce introduced his “The Big Ticket” to a woman he hired as his girlfriend for the day.
“This is my girlfriend for the day, they got a website where you can hire girlfriends for the day, so I got a girlfriend for the day,” Pierce said to Garnett while they were working as analysts on the online show.
Simply put, Paul Pierce is off the chain, so hear his hot takes with caution, and Haslem is not choosing violence.
