Udonis Haslem on the state of the Heat entering the playoffs, and his message for doubters
As the Miami Heat ramps up its preparation for the playoffs, team captain Udonis Haslem has a message for his teammates.
“Don’t be complacent, don’t be overconfident, continue to work, continue to come in every day and keep the same format,” said Haslem, who is in his 19th NBA season. “Nothing changes right now. Maybe you tap in a little bit more. If things are disrupting your focus, you got to eliminate that right now at this time of the year.”
The top-seeded Heat will open the first round of the playoffs on Sunday at 1 p.m. at FTX Arena against the winner of Friday’s play-in game between the Atlanta Hawks and Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse (7:30 p.m., ESPN).
“When you’re talking about winning a championship, a large part of it is mental,” Haslem, 41, continued. “I start with mental prep first. So eliminate distractions, eliminate things that are challenging your mental health, eliminate things that are not allowing this to be your first priority at this point of the year. That’s where I start.”
Despite only playing in 13 games this season and 42 games since the start of the 2017-18 campaign, Haslem’s words carry a lot of weight as a team leader who has played a role on each of the Heat’s three championship teams in 2006, 2012 and 2013.
Haslem has noticed similarities between those title-winning teams and this season’s Heat squad.
“The similarities between all of our championship teams is just the connection between the guys,” Haslem said.
Case in point: More than half of the Heat’s roster took a bonding trip to the Bahamas at the start of the week before the team returned to practice on Wednesday.
“The general connection between the team, the coaching staff and everybody that comes out here every day and puts in that work,” Haslem said. “We come in with a smile on our face, we encourage each other, we enjoy being here, we enjoy spending time together and it’s genuine. Just when you think it’s at its best, it just keeps getting better. So the thing that I notice about those teams and this team is just the love. Just the love that we all have for one another.”
But the Heat hasn’t received much love from national pundits and oddsmakers.
Even as the East’s top seed, the Heat is listed with the fourth-best odds to win the conference behind the Milwaukee Bucks, Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics.
“Whatever floats their boat, whatever they want to talk about, whatever makes headlines. I’m fine with it,” Haslem said of some disregarding the Heat. “We come in here every day, we put our hard hats on, we grab our lunch pail and we go to work and we see the results. It might not be the sexiest. But we’re winning basketball games collectively as a unit and as a team. I’m sorry to everybody in the basketball world that that’s not sexy enough to you guys, but we’re thankful for the guys that we have and the opportunity we have to be the No. 1 seed.”
Of those still discrediting the Heat’s 2020 run to the NBA Finals in the Walt Disney World bubble, Haslem called it “crazy” as the team prepares for another playoff push.
“I feel like people just got a problem with Heat culture,” he said. “It’s easy to pick on because you don’t understand it, you might not be a part of it.”
Haslem then credited the Heat’s “culture” for Miami’s strong response to a late-season four-game skid.
Following the season-long losing streak and a heated sideline confrontation between Haslem and teammate Jimmy Butler during a March 23 loss to the Golden State Warriors, the Heat made rotation changes and went on a season-long six-game winning streak. Miami closed the regular season with six wins in its final seven games.
“It all helps. You see how we responded,” Haslem said. “We faced a little adversity, got challenged a little bit. But we responded by winning six in a row. That’s how we want to respond, that’s what Heat culture is all about. It looks crazy to everybody on the outside. But it’s just beautiful and it’s encouraging and it’s us. It’s who we are and we embrace who we are because we get the best versions of ourselves when we just be ourselves.”
When it comes to the Heat’s two potential first-round opponents, it won three of its four regular-season games against the Hawks while posting a 1-2 record against the Cavaliers.
But that record against Cleveland is a bit deceiving, considering Miami’s leading duo of Bam Adebayo and Butler missed both of the Heat’s losses to the Cavaliers because of injuries. The Heat’s only win over the Cavaliers this season came in a 117-105 victory at FTX Arena on March 11, and Adebayo and Butler proved to be the difference in that one by combining for 54 points.
Whichever team ends up as the first-round opponent, the Heat’s goal will be the same: Continue to inch closer to an NBA championship.
“We’re not here for nothing else but to help each other be the best version of ourselves and win basketball games,” Haslem said. “Any time anybody sees anything that’s going on with the Miami Heat or on the basketball court or off the basketball court in practice, it’s all in the sense of that we want the best for one another and we want to win. That’s it. It’s as simple as that.”
Haslem said earlier this season that he has a goal of returning for a 20th NBA season, but he didn’t shut the door this week on retiring at the end of this season if the Heat wins a title.
“That’s a big decision to make. We’ll see,” he said. “I don’t want to jump the gun on that. Let’s win one first.”
