Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem, Kobe Bryant, and Dirk Nowitzki share this

The Miami Heat are on the clock! While they still seem to be stuck in a weird spot as they continue to look to build out their roster, the season is fast approaching.

That’s no more indicative than the fact that the NBA schedule has dropped. While they know who they’ll be facing and when, they don’t exactly have a handle on who they’ll field along their roster.

Well, they do know one guy that will be back.

For the 20th season in a row, the Miami Heat will have a roster that features Udonis Haslem. Not knowing if he would return or not up until recently, he announced on Sunday that he will, indeed, return to the Miami Heat this season for his final professional year.

When it comes to the mark of 20 years, accomplishing that was a special ambition that Haslem has mentioned sharing with his father. What made it all tricky is that Haslem’s father has since passed on.

Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem, Kobe Bryant, And Dirk Nowitzki Share This

While it was something he battled with up until announcing the decision, it seems to be a point of motivation now for the Miami Heat legend.

Outside of that precious memory and the mere fact that 20 years doing anything successfully is an achievement, nonetheless being a professional athlete, there is also something else that is very special about what it is UD is about to accomplish.

When it comes to the honor of playing for one NBA franchise for 20 or more years, Haslem shares that honor with two other guys across the history of the league. And even more than that, those two other guys just so happen to be NBA all-timers and sports icons.

Though the individual careers accolades are, admittedly, much different in the circumstances of Haslem and the other two guys here, Kobe Bryant and Dirk Nowitzki, the team success and meaningfulness to his franchise are on par.

Miami Heat: Though Udonis Haslem’s Numbers Don’t Align, His Impact Does

Yes, Kobe Bryant is one of the faces of one of the most historic, lucrative, and successful NBA or sports franchises ever known to man. Yes, Nowitzki brought the Dallas Mavericks their first and only title, while he also might be the best European player ever until or if Luka Doncic builds a deep enough resume to take the mantle from his Dalla Mavericks counterpart.

However, when it comes to impact on a franchise, what Haslem has done can be viewed as equitable.

He’s been there through the ups and downs, through all of their success, through multiple eras, and around some of the greatest names that the franchise has ever been associated with.

He represents the essence of, not only, what the team and franchise are, but also everything righteous about the city in which the team calls home. He is all of that and that’s why, though, his numbers won’t ever match up to Kobe’s or Dirk’s, his impact is comparable for this franchise.

Either way you see it though, to do what he is about to do is a huge honor and accomplishment. And it’s made that much sweeter when you think about the fact that he shares that honor with the two guys that he does.