Udonis Haslem is the fourth-oldest player in the NBA, behind only Vince Carter, Dirk Nowitzki, and Jamal Crawford. Haslem has spent his entire career in South Beach with the Miami Heat, a 16-year career that began in 2003. And it will end this summer in South Beach too.
In an interview with Basketball Insiders David Yapkowitz, Haslem says this season will be his last and that he will retire at its end. He follows future Hall-of-Fame guard Dwyane Wade, who announced that this season will be his last, out the door this upcoming summer.
“I’m gonna call it done too. There’s nothing else left for me to do on the basketball court,” Haslem told Basketball Insiders. “My kids are getting older, my son is playing college football at the University of Toledo, my 11-year-old is playing travel baseball and I never see him as he’s always out of town. My eight year old is playing travel basketball. There’s so many other things for me to be engaged in right now.”
Haslem has only appeared in 14 minutes this season, but has stayed ready when called upon. That moment came on December 8th against the Los Angeles Clippers, where he played eight of those 14 minutes in a win.
“My role is a little bit different now, my role is whatever is needed each night. Being down some guys, I was called upon to play. We were down two guys and I was called upon to go out there and contribute and give them some minutes,” Haslem told Basketball Insiders after the game. “70 percent of the time my contributions are my voice, my leadership, my experience, and everything I can give to these guys.”
Following this upcoming summer and the retirements of Haslem and Wade, only LeBron James will remain from the 2013 Miami Heat championship roster. Everyone else will be either out of the league or playing overseas. Haslem was asked how he would like to be remembered as and, as one could imagine, it was as selfless as ever.
“Just a leader, a leader, and a winner. I’m a guy that did whatever it takes to get the job done, I told Dwyane [Wade] that the other day. My motivation whenever I stepped on the floor was to just be a guy that everyone can depend on,” Haslem told Basketball Insiders. “Playing with LeBron and playing with Chris Bosh, playing with Dwyane, Ray Allen, these superstar kind of guys, I wanted to be a guy that they knew they could depend on every night. Whatever was needed to bring to the table, I was going to bring that.”
