Picture Credit: Twitter
Udonis Haslem has announced retirement from professional basketball after a 20-year-long career with the Miami Heat. A three-time NBA champion, Udonis’s career represents loyalty, resilience and belief. The undrafted player went on to have an illustrious career, playing alongside some of the NBA’s greatest players and following in the footsteps of legends such as Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki. While his playing time has been sporadic at best over the last few seasons, Haslem was always a favourite for Heat fans and they will surely miss his presence in the NBA going forward.
Haslem is the 10th player in NBA history to play for 20 seasons. In his 879-game career, he maintained an average of 7.5 point and 6.6 rebounds. He is also the oldest player to ever play in an NBA final. His enormous contribution to the Heat has led to the team retiring his number 40 jersey in his honour. Announcing his retirement, Haslem shared a heartfelt post on social media discussing his thoughts on his career and thanking everyone who helped him on his incredible journey.
He said, “I consider myself extremely blessed to say I can leave this game with no regrets. The championships, the accolades, the brotherhood, man, it's hard not to be at peace."Undrafted to a 3x Champion, All-Rookie 2nd Team, Teammate Of The Year, the oldest player to play in an NBA finals game, Miami Heat's all-time leading rebounder and longest-tenured player, the list goes on.”
Miami Heat, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade and others react following Haslem's retir ement
Former Heat players LeBron James and Dwayne Wade sent their best wishes and love to the veteran when his retirement was announced. James won the NBA twice with the Heat, in 2012 and 2013 while Wade won it thrice with Haslem in 2006, 2012 and 2013. LeBron wrote, “CONGRATS MY BROTHER,” while Wade said, “My Brother!! Real One Out.”
Haslem made it to seven NBA finals with the Heat, including the most recent season where the Miami team lost to first time NBA champions the Nuggets. Haslem’s final appearance for the Heat was in game 3 against the Nuggets, where he played the final 29.8 seconds of the game.
