No politics for Haslem, but prayer is offered

He has stood shoulder to shoulder in recent weeks with community leaders, health care workers, law enforcement officials, at times putting social distancing aside for greater good.

But Udonis Haslem also draws a line when it comes to the lengths of his civic commitment.

“Not if I got to be a politician,” the Miami Heat captain said with a laugh. “I’d just stay home.

“If I got to be a politician, then hell no. I don’t want to do that.”

For Haslem, that has been as much a recurring theme as his community activism, which has come into play in recent weeks both with the coronavirus pandemic and recent civil unrest.

“I’ve always felt that I had a higher calling than basketball, especially being back in this city,” he told the Sun

Sentinel of this extended period in South Florida amid the NBA shutdown. “I always felt it was something bigger to grasp for, something to accomplish. Now with everything going on, I guess it’s just more.”

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra often has joked of how Haslem eventually will be mayor of Miami. And there was a time when Haslem spoke of working with former Heat teammate James Jones to fix political gridlock in Miami-Dade.

Among former NBA players who became mayors were Dave Bing in Detroit and Kevin Johnson in Sacramento.

But instead of votes, the search for Haslem now has been for sympathetic, understanding and active ears. That included a Sunday news conference in Miami urging both restraint and outrage in the wake of the killing of George Floyd, as well as ongoing community work to feed the needy in his native Miami amid the pandemic.

“I’m being more aggressive being out in the community and making sure I’m doing things because it calls for more aggressive times,” Haslem said. “Being a voice for people in this city that are struggling, and they don’t really have a voice, I felt compelled and I want to. It’s who I am, to be a voice for

those people.”

There also is a personal side, one that left Haslem anguished well before what transpired last week in Minneapolis.

In addition to offering support through his words and actions, Haslem has invested a considerable amount of NBA earnings to provide employment in his hometown, with his operations of Starbucks, Subway, Einstein Bros. and Auntie Anne’s outlets, as well as the 800 Degrees Woodfired Pizza restaurant in Aventura he co-owns with former Heat teammate Dwyane Wade.

That led to his own difficult decisions during the height of the pandemic quarantine and mandatory shutdowns, even as he worked to stay in shape for what is expected to be an NBA resumption this summer.

“I did feel terrible for all of my employees through the pandemic,” he said. “And we did a lot to make the situation as comfortable as possible for them. I will say that.

“I felt terrible because I got into this to help people, and I felt terrible about everything that happened. I wasn’t focused on myself. I wasn’t thinking about my business.”

It was just another troubling moment in advance of these new troubling times for the Southwest Ranches resident.

“Every night,” Haslem said, “I laid my head on my pillow, I thought about my employees and I actually said a prayer for all my employees.”

Haslem