An occasion to express gratitude that has been earned during 20 years of being the greatest championship player and, above all, leader.
Miami Heat legend to have his jersey retired
The Miami Heat are planning to immortalize the No. 40 jersey worn by Udonis Haslem next month.
Haslem’s jersey will be raised into the rafters at Kaseya Center in Miami, Fla. during halftime of the Heat’s Jan. 19 contest against the Atlanta Hawks.
Haslem spent his entire 20-year career with the Heat before retiring at the end of the 2022-23 campaign. He was a member of all three championship teams in franchise history — the 2006 title and back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013. Haslem is also the Heat’s all-time leading rebounder with 5,791.
Haslem perfectly embodied the “Heat Culture” mantra that Heat president Pat Riley has consistently tried to instill among Miami’s players over the years.
“It’s about a great legacy,” Riley said of retiring Haslem’s jersey. “A ‘thank you’ moment that has been earned over 20 years of being an incredible championship player and most importantly, the best leader. He’s going to have his day and I can’t wait to see his jersey hang in the rafters.”
Haslem’s jersey will be the sixth one retired by the Heat. He will join Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, Chris Bosh, and Dwyane Wade in receiving the honor.
It’s not often you see a player with career averages of 7.5 points and 6.6 rebounds get his jersey retired. But given what Haslem meant to the Heat organization and fans, it’s not hard to see why.
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It was only a matter of time, but the Heat will finally retire Haslem’s jersey up to the rafters in January.
“It’s about a great legacy, a Thank You moment that has been earned over 20 years of being an incredible championship player and most importantly, the best leader,” Riley said. “He’s going to have his day and I can’t wait to see his jersey hang in the rafters.”
Haslem’s impact on the organization is felt whether he is there or not as it has shown this season. He played for Miami for 20 seasons before making the decision to retire after the Heat lost in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets earlier this year.
He has the most rebounds in Heat history with rebounds and ranks among the team in all-time leaders in games played (second), minutes (second), and field goals made (fifth). Also, Haslem will be the sixth Miami player to join the rafters as the others are Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Shaquille O’Neal, Alonzo Mourning, and Tim Hardaway.
While he won’t be on the court anymore, he won’t leave the Heat organization as he obtained a front office role as the Vice President of Basketball Development. According to the team, his responsibilities include “being a resource to the coaching staff, mentoring both HEAT and Skyforce players as well as representing the organization in the community and in business endeavors.”
He poked fun at his attitude saying that it was hard to criticize a game from home and now he will get paid to do it with this new role. Haslem stressed that he wanted to be in the locker room helping out the players in anyway he can.
“I’m a very ambitious person and everything that I’m involved in are things that are personal to me,” Haslem said. “So it allows me to be the best version of myself. I love watching basketball and talking basketball all day. It’s hard to watch a game at home because I start critiquing and complaining. So now I can get paid to critique and complain. And just being in the locker room with these guys, that’s who I am, that’s what I am. Moving the needle.”
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