As Heat Immortality Looms, Udonis Haslem Channels Inner James Bond While Recalling Fated Start To Career

Published 01/19/2024, 1:07 PM EST

Jersey retirements are special. The act of retiring a number demonstrates the quality of the player and reflects the franchises’ love for their athletes. One such act of honor will be carried on by the Miami Heat when they retire the number 40 of their former forward Udonis Haslem.

The ceremony will take place during the halftime of the Heat’s game with the Atlanta Hawks at Kaseya Center on Friday. But before the occasion, Haslem traced back his roots to playing for the Florida Gators and how a single call from the then-Heat assistant coach Bob McAdoo changed it all.

What did Haslem say?

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Haslem propelled his team to three NBA Championship titles. However, the start of his career can be traced back to a phone call made by the then-Heat assistant coach to the franchise’s President Pat Riley. Haslem didn’t have things easy as he was left undrafted in 2002 mostly due to his size as a forward.

A disheartened Haslem next tried his luck for a French team and came back to the 2003 summer-league rosters with the Heat and the San Antonio Spurs. It was then that McAdoo noticed his talents and then called Riley to endorse Haslem.

Channeling his inner James Bond, Haslem revealed, as per Sun Sentinel, that it was “McAdoo, Bob McAdoo,” who helped him get on the roster of one of the best franchises of the NBA. The 43-year-old also gave complete credit to McAdoo and stated his gratitude on Friday. “I’ve got to credit McAdoo. He was a Hall of Famer, but he was the one who called the Heat and said, ‘Hey, we have to sign this guy,’” Haslem elaborated.

And as they say, the rest is history.

Haslem went on to spend the next 20 years with the Heat. Hopefully, this Friday night will be a reason for a double celebration.

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How have the Heat performed?

Previously, the Heat trumped the Hawks by a 117-109 margin. The game was a high-scoring one with their center Bam Adebayo grabbing 26 points, a game-high of 17 rebounds, and 4 assists. With this game, the Heat notched up their season record to 24-17. Hopefully, they will continue their performance when they meet the Hawks this Friday.

Meanwhile, UD is also currently the vice president of basketball development with the Heat, and he would love to have a double dub this Friday. With Haslem in the current role, the Heat is in good hands in the future.

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“Monks don’t retire to mountains for Nirvana, they go there in search of the lost script”. That was me as an engineer looking for a place where my ‘ikigai’ of doing things could be realized. The feeling became fierce when I watched the legendary trio of Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman creating commotion.

Edited by:

Caroline Joseph

As Heat Immortality Looms, Udonis Haslem Channels Inner James Bond While Recalling Fated Start To Career

What did Haslem say?

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How have the Heat performed?