Udonis Haslem has his sights set on 20 NBA seasons.
“That’s a goal,” Haslem said to the Miami Herald ahead of Monday night’s road game against the Denver Nuggets.
The Miami Heat’s veteran forward and longtime team captain is in his 19th NBA season. He’s not ready to officially commit to a 20th season yet, but it’s clear reaching that mark would be significant to him for multiple reasons.
Inside the unique bond that Bam Adebayo and Udonis Haslem have formed as Heat teammates
First, Haslem would become just the ninth player in NBA history to play in at least 20 seasons. The record is 22 seasons by Vince Carter, while Robert Parish, Kevin Willis, Kevin Garnett and Dirk Nowitzki played 21 seasons and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Jamal Crawford played 20 seasons.
Second, it’s a milestone Haslem’s father, Johnnie Haslem, wanted him to reach. Johnnie died on Aug. 30 at 70 years old, with Haslem recently labeling it as “probably the toughest time I’ve ever had to encounter.”
“I think for me, it’s an accomplishment to be in that class of people,” Haslem said of the possibility of getting to 20 seasons. “Obviously, so many selfless years. I think that’s something I can give to myself. To say that a kid who nobody really gave a chance to, to do 20 years in this organization at this level and break records and win championships. I think for me, that would be a gift to myself. That was something that my father wanted. So I think it’s something that I still have the ability to accomplish. That’s something that we’re looking forward to.”
Haslem also explained why reaching 20 seasons is important to him during a recent interview with GQ.
“If I can get 20 years, it’ll be an amazing career for a kid that no one thought would play in the league,” Haslem said to GQ. “All my sacrifices, everything I’ve given, the only thing I’ve asked for is to try to get to 20. I wanna give that to myself, and I wanted to give it to my father.”
Haslem, who turns 42 in June, has not played much in recent seasons. He has appeared in 31 games since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, but has served as a Heat captain in 15 consecutive seasons (the longest tenure in team history).
Haslem, a Miami native, is still considered an important part of the Heat’s formula within the organization because of the leadership and experience he brings to the locker room.
“It’s something that just came about over the last couple months, including this summer,” Haslem said of when 20 NBA seasons became a goal. “Those conversations that I had with my father and just people close to me. I think it was something that he wanted and that we wanted, and we always talked about how we would walk away and just the way we would do it because so many people sacrificed.
“You see me show up to the games for 19 years, but you forget about the people that sacrificed their time for me to be away like my family, my support system and different people like that. So the goal was for those people to be able to enjoy those things, as well. I think 20 years would be an an amazing accomplishment for all of us to celebrate together.”
But to really understand why 20 seasons is significant to Haslem is to know where he came from.
Haslem went undrafted out of the University of Florida in 2002 and spent the 2002-03 season playing overseas in France before earning a spot on the Heat’s roster for the 2003-04 season. The rest is history, as Haslem has played a role on each of the team’s three championship teams and is the only undrafted player in NBA history to be a franchise’s all-time leading rebounder.
“It’s just something that people never would have thought I would accomplish,” Haslem said of getting to 20 seasons. “Like I said, it’s just a gift to myself. I can add that to the resume and it was something that my father and I talked about. We just wanted to walk away a certain way and have some significance to it, and we thought that would be the perfect way.”
Haslem became the oldest player to appear in a game for the Heat in franchise history last season, and he has already appeared in two games this season late in blowout wins. With each of Haslem’s 19 seasons coming with the Heat, he also currently holds the longest streak by any active player with only one team in the league.
While Haslem isn’t ready to commit to extending that streak to 20 seasons yet, it’s evident that his return next season is a real possibility.
“We’ll talk about it when it comes,” he said of that decision. “God willing, I’m healthy and we’ll revisit it. But my goal is to get to 20 years. It would be an amazing accomplishment. It would be a gift to myself, my family and my father.”
STRUS NEARING RETURN
Heat forward Max Strus was upgraded to questionable for Monday’s matchup against the Nuggets after missing the previous three games with a sprained left knee. But coach Erik Spoelstra said following the team’s Monday morning shootaround session that Strus will not play in Denver.
“I would feel comfortable with one more hard workout,” Spoelstra said, with the Heat’s next game coming Wednesday against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center.
The Heat feels fortunate that Strus is even close to a return after spraining his knee just a little more than a week ago on Oct. 30. Strus tore the ACL in his left knee less than two years ago in December 2019.
“Obviously he has a history with that knee. We were very fortunate,” Spoelstra said. “He has had some really good days of treatment and some work. He was able to go through the shootaround today, so we’ll just keep on progressing.”
Victor Oladipo (right knee injury recovery) and Marcus Garrett (G League assignment) have also been ruled out for the contest. They both did not travel with the Heat to Denver.
The Nuggets will be without Vlatko Cancar (left hip strain), Petr Cornelie (G League), Jamal Murray (left knee injury recovery) and Michael Porter Jr. (low back pain). Monte Morris (left patellar) is listed as probable.
BOOSTERS COMING
The NBA and Players Association issued guidance on Sunday that recommended players, coaches and referees receive a booster shot if they are at least two months removed from a Johnson and Johnson vaccine or at least six months removed from either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines.
Those who are vaccinated but choose not to get a booster could be forced to return to mandatory COVID-19 testing on game days beginning on Dec. 1, in some cases.
The Heat is fully vaccinated and the expectation is boosters will be available to the team in the coming days.
