Haslem rejoins team after days of mourning
DETROIT — Basketball has never been more important to Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem than it is right now.
Haslem rejoined the team Saturday for the first time in four days after leaving to attend the funeral of longtime agent Henry Thomas. Haslem is also dealing with the death of former teammate Rasual Butler, who died earlier this past week in a car accident.
Being around the game and teammates again has been Haslem’s biggest ally.
“Once I got into the hotel last night in Detroit, the first thing I do was cut on the TV and watch the game,” Haslem before Saturday’s game against the Detroit Pistons. “I had my iPad with my son’s baseball game. I have the TV with the Heat game and I’m the phone talking to my son at Toldeo like, ‘What time you coming down to the game?’ I immediately just got back into work mode, father mode, competitive mode. Everything just went back to what it is.”
Haslem has been dealing with the unfortunate events for the past week. He left to be by Thomas’ side during his final days. He then missed Friday’s game in Philadelphia because of the funeral.
“With that being said, it’s not going to be easy,” Haslem said. “Right now, but in another week or so when I realize those texts aren’t coming through from Hank … it’s going to be difficult.”
While Thomas’ health was deteriorating for months, Butler’s death was a surprise. The two were teammates from 2003-05.
“That was a tough blow, especially coming off the heels of what was going on with Hank. We had spoken recently, a couple months ago about just getting together. He was asking me about some of the franchises and business stuff I was into. He just wanted to talk about some of that stuff and we talked about it, and we were going to plan on getting together. And you know, it should have happened sooner rather than later, I guess. It’s unfortunate, man.” Whiteside left in the fourth quarter due to a stomach illness, it was Adebayo closing the game against Embiid.
Embiid finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but Adebayo more than held his own. He ended with 15 points, 13 rebounds and six assists.
“You have to do it with incredible effort and great technique and discipline because Embiid is very clever, very skilled, knows how to draw fouls,” Spoelstra said of Adebayo’s effort.
Adebayo, who wasn’t chosen for the Rising Stars Challenge game during NBA All-Star Weekend, has been one of the more consistent rookies this season. His defense has stood out the most.
“Paying attention to detail,” Adebayo said. “Just going as hard as I can and taking every matchup personal. All my teammates believe in me. I just go out there and do the best I can.”
srichardson@sun-sentinel .com, Twitter @shandelrich