Miami Heat: Of course Udonis Haslem is Erik Spoelstra’s favorite player
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra recently let the world know who his favorite Miami Heat player is. It was who we thought it would be, to say the least.
The Miami Heat are built upon a few core principals. These are hard work, perseverance, loyalty, and discipline.
Not only are these the principles that the Miami Heat are built upon, but it is the foundation that one Miami Heat Lifer has seemingly built his whole life upon. Udonis Haslem, aptly nicknamed the OG, is not only a guy that is all Miami because he plays and works there, but that’s also the place that created and raised him.
It is because of these same facts that it is no wonder that when tasked to name his favorite Miami Heat player, Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra chose none other than Miami’s very own, UD. He revealed the fact in an interview for ESPN’s #oneteam Speaker Series. Here are a couple of quotes, via the South Florida Sun Sentinel, depicting the actual instance after being asked by the host of the interview, Adrian Wojnarowski.
"“You guys are going to put me on the spot like that?” Spoelstra quipped to host Adrian Wojnarowski. “Obviously, I’ve been very fortunate to be able to work for a Hall of Famer, to be able to coach a lot of Hall of Famers”.“But my favorite Miami Heat player is not a Hall of Famer, but he’s a Miami Heat Hall of Fame, and his numbers will go up in the rafters as soon as he’s done,” Spoelstra said of power forward Udonis Haslem. “And he was the player when we won out championship against Oklahoma City [in 2012], he was the one that dumped the Gatorade bucket on me. And that was Udonis Haslem. And he is Mr. Miami.”"
He’s Mr. Miami indeed, Mr. Spoelstra. It’s pretty simple if you think about it.
Spoelstra mentions how he and UD have grown together, coming of age at similar times along their paths and time with the organization. That’s just it, Udonis probably reminds him most of his self and his journey.
They both had to come in, catch on, and work their ways through the organization to where they are now. Through that aforementioned “hard work, perseverance, loyalty, and discipline”, they were able to achieve everything that they have achieved as individuals and together as apart of the Miami Heat franchise.
Next. Erik Spoelstra’s 3 biggest moments after 25 years with franchise. dark
While we knew what this answer would be before seeing it and upon initially seeing the question at hand, these were the reasons why. This is why it is also no shock that UD is Coach Spo’s favorite Miami Heat player ever.