Udonis Haslem will always bleed red and black, and the Miami Heat will deliver an ultimate honor to show their gratitude in their long-time franchise legend.
Following the announcement of Haslem’s return for the 2022-2023 season, Heat President Pat Riley announced and has confirmed that they will hang his No. 40 jersey up in the rafters.
“From the first day that I saw him compete, to the last day when we retire his jersey at our FTX home, UD [Udonis Haselm] will go down in our team’s history as one of the best to ever play for the Miami Heat,” said Riley.
This upcoming season will serve as the 20th and the last one for the 42-year-old Haslem in playing professionally. This also marks his entry in an exclusive club that features players who played 20 or more years in one single team in their entire career, joining the late Kobe Bryant (Los Angeles Lakers) and Dirk Nowitzki (Dallas Mavericks).
Haslem played an instrumental role in the transformation of the Miami franchise, helping them to win three NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013 with his leadership and paint presence.
He also took a major sacrifice in order for Riley to assemble the early 2010s Heat dynasty, settling for a lower contract in order to land LeBron James and Chris Bosh in South Beach.
In the latter part of his career, Haslem took a backseat and opted to become the Heat’s vocal leader off the bench, portraying a mentor role and the undisputed locker room guy.
Haslem has an NBA career average of 7.5 points, 6.6 boards, and 48.9 percent shooting across 872 games. Other than that, he is the club’s all-time leader in offensive, defensive and total rebounds per game.
