Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem
Udonis Johneal Haslemis an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a key member of four Florida Gators NCAA tournament teams. He played professional basketball in France for a year, and then signed with the Miami Heat in 2003. He has won three NBA championships while playing for the Heat...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth9 June 1980
CityMiami, FL
CountryUnited States of America
I've learned a lot from the experiences that I went through in high school, through college and overseas, and just everything in life. That is what prepared me for coming into the NBA, being undersized, no recognition, not getting anything easy, and I have been fortunate to prosper in this league.
It is one of those situations where I have to step up and stick on the shooter and let the guard take his chances down there. I am thinking a step ahead. I am thinking if somebody rotates, then I have to rotate.
J-Will is always running. We just have to run with him. Sometimes we just can't keep up. ... If we can run with him, he's going to find you.
I would never approach an official in a physical manner or throw anything at them. I could see how it looked that way.
A lot of people look at playing overseas as a step down from the NBA. And, yes it is a step down from the NBA money-wise, but there is just as good of talent overseas as in the NBA. Not better talent.
Anytime you have a Pat Riley running things, calling the shots, you are not going to question things because he has been through it. He knows what it is all about and what it takes to win. All we have to do on our end is play basketball because we know the right calls and the right decisions are going to be made up top.
The Heat gave me an opportunity when nobody else wanted to.
My work ethic I learned at Miami High, and I have taken that with me.
We're two different players and we can bring two different things to the table. If we put that together, we should have a pretty good tandem.
We can beat anybody. We just haven't been doing it.
We didn't deserve to win that game. If we would have won that game, it would have defied the laws of basketball.
We came out and took care of business and that's the sign of a good team, coming out and making adjustments.
I don't think it will take long. We understand what the game plan is every game going out. The transition more than anything will probably be defensively, because everybody played different defensive schemes, and our scheme is probably one of the toughest schemes in the NBA because we work a lot harder.
I got excited just watching the glimpses of things to come.