After 20 glorious seasons with the same franchise, Heat forward Udonis Haslem is finally calling it a career.
The 42-year-old Miami native suited up for his final regular-season game on Sunday, and the team fittingly held a pre-game ceremony to give the home fans a chance to applaud Haslem for his contributions to the franchise. Teammate Bam Adebayo took the opportunity to give Haslem the perfect gift to send him into retirement.
“He is the ultimate competitor, the ultimate teammate, the ultimate winner,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “He’s about all the right things. He also has that ‘it’ quality and he’s always had that.”
Haslem was 9-for-17 from the floor, 3-for-7 from 3-point range. It was Haslem’s 1,026th game — including playoffs — and he’s only scored more points in two of them.
“So many people have sacrificed for me and this is for them. This is their day as much as it is mine,” said Haslem, who is retiring when this season — his 20th, all with Miami — ends. “This love affair that I’ve had with this organization and this city for the last 20 years is going to continue to grow.”
“Whether I was starting, whether I was the first guy off the bench or whether I didn’t play at all, you guys always had my back and showed love,” Haslem said. “For me, that’s priceless. That’s beautiful. And that’s why it made it all so easy, just to sacrifice everything.”
And when he was done, Heat center Bam Adebayo went out to interrupt the proceedings – and give Haslem his gift, a Heat-themed rocking chair.
The big moment of Haslem actually checking in – an ovation began to build as soon as he headed to the scorer’s table with 9:05 remaining in the first quarter – was both memorable and historic. At 42 years and 304 days old, Haslem became the fifth-oldest player to appear in an NBA game. He passed Dikembe Mutombo, who was 42 years, 300 days old when he appeared in his NBA finale.
The Heat showed a tribute video for Haslem before Sunday’s game that included messages from Spoelstra and Heat President Pat Riley.
Haslem stood at center court with his family as his wife, Faith, gave him a heartfelt message. Haslem also gave a brief speech to the crowd, thanking Heat fans for all their support through the years.
“Whether I was starting, whether I was the first guy off the bench or whether I didn’t play at all, you guys always had my back and showed love,” Haslem said. “For me, that’s priceless. That’s beautiful. And that’s why it made it all so easy, just to sacrifice everything.”
Bam Adebayo presented Haslem with a personalized rocking chair as his teammates enjoyed the moment in front of them.
While Jimmy Butler was out Sunday to rest in advance of Tuesday’s play-in game against the Atlanta Hawks, Adebayo, Tyler Herro and the rest of the Heat rotation players played Sunday to keep their rhythm and to get a few more minutes with Haslem on the floor.
“Short answer is I’m going to miss him,” Spoelstra said. “But he’s not going anywhere, it’s just going to be a different role. And I think he’ll find a way to make this role even more impactful than what he’s done now. He’s already done that five or six times over the course of his career, it will be a reinvention and he’ll find a way to move the needle.”
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