We all hear the sob stories about professional athletes feeling disrespected and, frankly, they're almost all repetitive and boring and, most of the time, wildly exaggerated.

Udonis Haslem's story isn't much different. It's just a tad more obvious.

Haslem is the only remaining Heat player other than Dwyane Wade to actually have contributed to the 2006 championship team. He's the hometown product, the underdog story, the ultimate teammate.

And entering the final year of his current contract -- a year after which many assume his time in Miami will be over because the Heat is expected to throw max dollars at the premier players next summer -- Haslem is asked to come off the bench so his successor at the position, Michael Beasley, can develop.

It looked like multiple slaps to the face of one of this franchise's most beloved figures.

Leave it to Haslem to turn that into positive -- for him and for his team.

Three games into this season, which has begun 3-0 following Sunday's 95-87 win against Chicago, Haslem has looked more effective than ever.

In putting up 19 points and 11 rebounds during 35 minutes off the bench Sunday, Haslem drove the ball to the basket numerous times, guarded smaller forwards Luol Deng and John Salmons, took pull-up jumpers and hit the game-sealing shot.

It's just a three-game sample, but Haslem is averaging a double-double.

By the time he was done talking in the locker room Sunday night, he even proclaimed, ``I kind of like coming off the bench now.''

TEAM FIRST

It certainly wasn't like that initially. He won't say publicly that being demoted on a contract year is infuriating, but of course it is.

He will admit, though, that the idea of coming off the bench bothered him if it wasn't done for the right reasons.

``You're never happy about coming off the bench,'' Haslem said. ``But I just wanted to make sure that if I was going to make this sacrifice for the team, that it was the best thing for the team. As long as Beasley continues to do his job, then I don't mind coming off the bench.''

So far, he has come to find out that there's even more of a benefit to playing with the reserves.

All that work Haslem has put in during the past six offseasons, particularly this past offseason when he worked on taking his opponents off the dribble, can finally be shown off without hesitation.

Why hold back? If he's supposed to be a spark off the bench, why not provide offense to go along with that energy?

He already had shelved his post-up game for so long it's a shock he even remembers where he left it. Even that part of his repertoire is in play again.

``Right now it's like I'm in high school and college again, playing without thinking,'' Haslem said. ``It's different playing with the first unit. I used to have to think, and it wasn't as natural. Now it's just natural, playing ball like I used to do.''

That aggressive approach is sticking with him even when he's on the floor with Wade and Jermaine O'Neal, which is a welcome change of pace for a team that made barely offseason changes.

This might change the way we think about Haslem altogether. What's the one line you always hear about Haslem, ``You always know what you're going to get from Udonis?''

UNPREDICTABLE

Well, maybe now you don't. And maybe that's a good thing.

``Some people say that, and they compliment me,'' Haslem said. ``But I don't like being put in a box, and I don't like for people to put limitations on me, because there's a lot more that I can do. But my first priority is to help this team win.''

That has never come into question with Haslem. Even now, when anyone would assume he's being more aggressive because he is in a contract year and selfishly needs the numbers, you can tell Haslem's approach is genuinely team-oriented.

Haslem doesn't do sulking. He doesn't do selfish.

He does, apparently, do sixth man very well.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@