Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem had earned much criticism and slack after his hard foul on Indiana Pacers player Tyler Hansbrough in 2012. The foul occurred during the final seconds of the Eastern Conference semi-final series’ Game 5, after which Haslem was suspended for the subsequent Game. Eleven years since Dwyane Wade sacrificed $1,500,000 for the Heat legend, Haslem explained his exact thought process on Duncan Robinson’s podcast before picking the foul.
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Though the Heat won the series 3-2 against the Pacers, the playoff series was always bound to be filled with tensions and noise from both sides. Indiana’s Danny Granger had even admitted that the team was soft against a much tougher Heat team that bullied and beat around the Pacers throughout the series. Eventually, Miami won the championship that very year, defeating a formidable Oklahoma City Thunder 4-1 in the series.
Udonis Haslem breaks down the real reason behind hard-fouling Pacers’ Tyler Hansbrough
During the 2012 playoffs, Udonis Haslem noticed the Indiana Pacers player Tyler Hansbrough fouling Dwyane Wade and high-fiving his teammates later. This was enough to rile the Heat legend up to earn himself a foul in order to get revenge.
As Haslem mentioned in Duncan Robinson’s podcast, he had informed coach Eric Spoelstra of his intentions to attack Hansbrough, which he eventually did. Haslem never cared about the fine and the suspension and only had retribution in his head. Speaking about the same, he said:
“Just so you know, everybody wants to bring up the Hansbrough play but nobody know he hit me in the eye right before. Nobody bring that part. They didn’t know I got eight stitches the game before. Took mine like a man. That’s fine, I could dish it. I could take it. Now the very next game, we are home. D-Wade takes one. He’s cut, he takes a hard one. That’s my guy, I’mma protect him. But at this point, it’s the game going on, now I see the two guys give each other five. It was Hansbrough and Monson. Oh good job they five like kind of like congratulating them. Now, the decision is made, I’m f**king somebody up.”
Udonis Haslem had even tried convincing Coach Eric Spoelstra to stay out of this matter to resolve it all by himself. Eventually, Haslem’s foul, during the dying seconds of Game 5, earned him a suspension for the subsequent Game 6 and a $34,364 fine.
To this day, the Miami Heat legend has no regrets for this foul and considers it as a redemption for his fellow teammate, Dwyane Wade.
Dwyane Wade had given up a significant chunk of his earnings to accommodate Udonis Haslem
Dwyane Wade has always accommodated allowing the Heat to let other stars join the roster. Be it for bringing in LeBron James or re-signing Udonis Haslem, D-Wade is always ready to take the backseat for himself to help his team. In 2010, when Haslem had to re-sign, D-Wade took a $1,500,000 per year pay cut to make room for the new star.
Udonis Haslem wasn’t ready to rejoin the Heat unless he got $20 million. Following this, Dwyane Wade had successfully convinced even LeBron James and Chris Bosh to take a $1 million pay cut, alongside his own $1,500,000 pay cut.
