Love him or hate him; you cannot write Miami Heat history without mentioning Udonis Haslem‘s name multiple times.
He’s spent his entire career in South Florida and has become a walking institution of the organization, an extension of coach Erik Spoelstra on the bench, and a mentor for younger players.
Haslem personifies the so-called Heat Culture.
He’s a strong, physical leader who won’t hesitate to get in your face with some tough love.
Still, he’s gotten plenty of criticism for continuously signing one-year deals to come back and take a roster spot instead of just retiring and joining Spoelstra’s coaching staff.
However, he wouldn’t be out there at this point in his career if he wasn’t in top shape, and he credits LeBron James for that:
“I learned from ‘Bron years ago, the first thing I noticed was the way he takes care of his body and the weight room and things like that,” Haslem told the Miami Herald. “I’ve been able to implement some of that. There’s no way I’m able to still be out here running and jumping and keeping up with these guys at 42 if I didn’t take care of my body in a certain way. So that was definitely something I took out of Bron’s book.”
“There’s no way I’m able to still be out here running and jumping and keeping up with these guys at 42 if I didn’t take care of my body in a certain way. So that was definitely something I took out of Bron’s book.”
– Udonis Haslem
(@Anthony_Chiang) pic.twitter.com/5fScQuR56V
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) January 5, 2023
Of course, Haslem has barely played over the past couple of years, whereas LeBron continues to be among the league’s leaders in minutes.
So, there are levels to everything.
Even so, the fact that Haslem can still deal with an NBA practice, let alone a game is nothing short of remarkable.
