Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem Speaks candidly about who Pat Riley is
The Miami Heat are nearly back on the hardwood after a tough end to last season. Coming down to a Game 7 faceoff against the Boston Celtics, they weren’t able to close the deal.
Heading into the new season that awaits, they looked to make a splash move and especially after losing some key pieces from last year. With P.J. Tucker off to Philly, they have questions about their power forward rotation to answer.
One of the longest-tenured power forwards and players on the roster though, Udonis Haslem, recently spoke with Kevin Durant’s Boardroom media platform. One of the topics that came up was Pat Riley and who he is.
Here is a bit of what Haslem had to say.
"I ain’t never been afraid of no man, but I think the first two years with the Miami Heat, I ain’t even speak to Pat. ... I watched The Godfather. I seen all that shit."@ThisIsUD on Pat Riley is 🔥. pic.twitter.com/zdfcSLeA8f
— Boardroom (@boardroom) August 29, 2022
Being asked who he is as the “symbol”, he used the “mob” and the Godfather image.
The Miami Heat are synonymous with the excellence that Pat Riley has put on display across his career. Udonis Haslem spoke to all of that recently.
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He noted the hair and the attire, but also noted that it’s bigger than just that.
He handles his business in a very buttoned-up manner as well according to the OG, Udonis Haslem. A very explicatory, yet candid, version of the soon-to-be 20-year professional basketball player, Haslem went on to speak of who Pat Riley is as a man as well.
He would say that he’s “a winner”. He spoke to how Pat Riley took his opportunities to “maximize” all of them, from his time as a player to rising into coaching out of the broadcast booth.
Basically, Udonis Haslem would state how he believed that Pat Riley and himself were a lot alike. You would guess that makes sense though, as both have overcome major obstacles to achieve major success in the NBA.
That’s probably also why Pat Riley loves to have Haslem around. UD has to feel the same on the other side too though.
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While the salary certainly doesn’t hurt and while there are more people in the organization that probably helped to make his decision to return easier, helping to make another run at a title potentially even in his mind, Haslem’s clear reverence for Riley certainly helps.