Following a 20-year-long career with the Heat, Udonis Haslem will bid farewell to the team that gambled on him in 2003 when they drafted Dwyane Wade as the 5th pick and saw their future 2x MVP, LeBron James, join the Cleveland Cavaliers as the #1 pick.
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Those three and the 4th pick of that very draft, Chris Bosh, joined forces in Miami in 2010 and went on to become the most successful star-studded team in the NBA until they were there.
That team went to 4 straight Finals from 2010 to 2014 and won two championships. Most of the credit for the success of the team went to its 2x Finals MVP, James, second-fiddle D-wade, and Bosh for the sacrifice he made playing behind those two.
However, the sacrifice Haslem made didn’t catch as much attention. And while he is in his last few days with the franchise as a player, former All-Star Gilbert Arenas gave him his due credit.
Gilbert Arenas reveals how Udonis Haslem rejected $33 Million to accommodate LeBron James
Agent 0 recently revealed how Udonis deserves much more credit than he gets for LeBron James and Co’s two championships. The man reportedly turned down a $33 million offer from the Milwaukee Bucks when the Heat wanted to have its super team.
“Them two championships that LeBron [James] got there, you have to credit him for it because he’s the one who took the pay cut to make it happen,” Gilbert Arenas said. “People don’t realize he took the pay cut. Milwaukee offered him $33 million when LeBron was up, and they were trying to make the big decision… He turned it down and said, ‘Sign him. Whatever’s left over, I’ll sign.’”
Stories like these would never come out if players did not have a platform to tell them. Thanks to the ‘New Media’ we are not much behind on off-the-court stories of these stars most of us admire more than any Hollywood celeb we are a fan of.
UD’s time in Miami
In his prime, Udonis was an impact player whose presence clearly showed as much as somebody who would get a lot of points and rebounds.
His peak lasted just around 9 years when the 6ft 7’ forward, who played much bigger than his size, almost averaged double-double in multiple seasons.
In the latter 11 years, he played more of a veteran and a coach’s role and took it to a whole another level. Pat Riely compensated for it by bringing him back year after year despite playing less than 100 games for the franchise until finally, he set foot on the hardwood for the last time.
