Not yet ready to begin retirement
Haslem announces that he intends to return to team for an 18th NBA season
UdonisHaslem said Friday that his return to the Miami Heat for an 18th season has nothing to do with statistics, playing time or even breaking a sweat with the clock running.
The Heat captain said it is all about histeammates, his coaches, camaraderie and mentorship.
“I am the Miami Heat; the Miami Heat is me,” Haslem said during a promotional appearance at the Subway sandwich outlethe operates in Coconut Creek.
“These guys really still value what I bring to the table.”
So much so that coach Erik Spoelstra and teammates implored the 40-year-old power forward to retain his jersey for at least one more season after he played only 44 minutes last season, none in the playoffs.
The team’s all-time leading rebounder said it was his time with the Heat at the NBA’s quarantine bubble at Disney World,
amid the isolation during the coronavirus pandemic, that made him realize he still could matter in uniform, even without taking the court.
“I really didn’t understand how impactful Iwas to these guys until I had the opportunity to be in the bubble and spend as much time as I had to spend with these guys,” hesaid, with the Heat falling two games short of a championship with their Game 6 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. “I really understood that these guys really respond to me, man. That was huge for me.”
Haslem shared in Heat championships in 2006, ‘12 and ‘13. He initially considered retiring along with fellow Heat 2003-04 rookie Dw ya ne Wade in April 2018. He then decided to return for potentially his own fare well tour this past season. Then came the pandemic and, suddenly, no chance for an American Airlines Arena send off.
“I really would like for the people that have been a part of my journey and sacrificed for me for so long to be able to enjoy it at some point,” he said Friday, after personally crafting sandwiches and later signing autographs. “The pandemic kind of threw a monkey wrench into that.
“So hopefully moving forward, I will be able to include my family and my friends the day that I’m going to walk away fromthe game of basketball.”
And, yet, nothing is definitive about when he might be the retiring type.
“Spot old me don’ t answer that question,” he said with a smile. “Spo said we’ll continue to talk about it.”
Oneof three 40-year-olds in the league last season, Haslem has the opportunity to become the oldest active player should Jamal Crawford not return. Vince Carter, 43, retired at season’s end. Haslem’s next appearance will make him the oldest player in franchise history, passing Juwan Howard.
Having spent his entire career with the Heat after going undrafted out of the University of Florida in2002 and then spending a season in France before joining the Heat as a free agent, Haslem will tie Reggie Miller for the fifth-longest tenure with one team. Dirk Nowitzki spend 21 years with the Dallas Mavericks, Kobe Bryant 20 with the Los Angeles Lake rs and Tim Duncan 19 with the San Antonio Spurs and John Stockton 19 with the Utah Jazz.
Although Haslem said he was encouraged by Spoelstra to return during his exit interview after the season, he cannot formally engage in negotiations for a return until the 6 p.m. Nov. 20 start of free agency. He then will bee ligible to sign for the$2.6 million veterans minimum, similar to the contracts he has signed in the past three years, to again occupy one of the team’s 15 standard roster spots. As a player on the minimum scale, his contract will count only$1.6 million against the salary cap, with the league to pay the balance.
Already, he said, the work has begun toward the Dec. 1 start of training camp and then the Dec. 22 pandemic of the 202021 season.
“I got film with [Chris] Silva today,” he said. “I worked out with Bam [Adebayo] yesterday. I do have to do these things in order to move the needle from a perspective of a guy that’s actually not getting minutes.”
As for potential playing time, Haslem said he iswell aware of his place.
“That’s Spo’s job, to put guys in and make the rotation of who plays and who doesn’t play,” he said. “I can go out there and stay ingreat shape, keep myself ready. If my number is called, I’ll go out there and play.”
Spoelstra called Haslem’s presence this past season invaluable.
“I can’t even imagine being in a locker room or in a game without UD,” Spoelstra said during the playoffs. “It’s hard enough adjusting this year not having Dwyane in here. I’m so used to UD and his leadership and his voice. It does matter. He
“I really didn’t understand how impactful Iwas to these guys until I had the opportunity to be in the bubble and spend as much time as I had to spend with these guys. I really understood that these guys really respond to me, man. Thatwas huge for me.”
— Udonis Haslem, onwhy he decided to return to the Heat