The Miami Heat are off and we are in the dog days of summer folks, the time of year when we try and find alternative endeavors to fill the hours, days, and weeks before the start of the NBA season. Things like the NBA Draft, free agency, and now the Summer League offer distractions, appetizers to the meal that is the regular season.
It is such a time to remember fondly, the days tucked into the depths of NBA history. These moments consisted of games or plays for the past five installments of this “Miami Heat Moments” series.
However, for this sixth and final edition (I had to turn these baby blues to the 2021-2022 season at some point), I wanted to commemorate some breaking news by looking back at an important day in Miami Heat history: The day the Heat signed Udonis Haslem.
The Heat Add A Local Kid Fresh Out Of France
Time to go for one last time machine ride friends, back to August 6, 2003.
The day before, Haslem was just a local Miami kid with NBA dreams. He went to Miami Senior High School.
The Miami Heat probably didn’t know what they were getting when they first signed Udonis Haslem. Almost two decades later, he’s still there to show them.
He received a scholarship to play at the University of Florida, donning the Gators’ jersey. The South Beach regular was called overweight, undersized, and too inefficient a rebounder to make it in the league.
He spent the summer on the Atlanta Hawks Summer League team before he headed overseas. After a tour in the French league (where he came in weighing 300 pounds before losing 50 of those pounds in eight months), he came back stateside, signing with the hometown team.
A memory of moments for Haslem and the Heat
The Heat took a flier on an unproven local kid who had a solid year in France; what Miami got was 18 sound years of NBA production. Haslem has been an anchor over the past 18 years in the locker room.
He was never a perennial All-Star talent on the court, but he did more than enough to keep in the rotation. In his younger years, he was the tenacious grinder.
The guy who would do the little things, make the key switches, and staying active. That also meant hunting for rebounds, battling on the glass, and fighting his way to becoming the all-time rebound leader for the franchise.
He also picked his spots, waiting patiently for the right shots, scoring when his team needed him to, and was happy to defer the rest of the time. More important still, he has been pivotal as a teammate.
He took a big pay cut to help bring LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach. He rides and dies with the guys he takes into the trenches, defending his teammates and keeping the opponent’s enforcers in check.
Like when he defended Mario Chalmers in the postseason. Or stepping to Dwight Howard this past season.
Dwight Howard and Udonis Haslem were getting HEATED in Miami: pic.twitter.com/zgzjDEznnk
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) May 14, 2021
Most importantly, he was a guide as he grew older. Someone to come alongside young players and teach them what is required to play at this level.
As someone who clawed his way into the NBA, Haslem knows all too well just how much determination and work is demanded from the best in basketball. As a veteran, he continues to prepare the next generation of the Miami Heat, conditioning them for not only the bright lights of the NBA but the high expectations of the postseason.
And now, he is back. At least for one more year.
So in light of Haslem’s return, take a Miami Heat Moment to remember the signing of the man that really does embody Heat Culture.