Udonis Haslem waffling on return for 20th season

Haslem said that his late father wanted him to reach 20 seasons in the NBA.

Anthony Chiang of the Miami Herald reported Monday that Udonis Haslem has yet to make a decision on whether he’ll return for a 20th NBA season or retire.

Haslem said that his father Johnnie, who passed away Aug. 30, 2021, wanted his son to play for a 20th season. “But as he passed, we think about now and things change,” Haslem said, according to the story by Chiang. “He’s not here no more and goals change, my vision has changed a little bit.”

His father wanted him to play for a 20th season, Haslem said, because “he hated me passing up money, he hated me passing up playing time.” During the summer of 2010, the Miami native turned down more lucrative offers from the Dallas Mavericks and Denver Nuggets to team up with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

Chiang notes in his story that the expectation remains that Haslem will return for a 20th season. The Heat have left one spot on their roster for him. And a recent episode of Miami Heat Beat discussed whether Haslem will play more than 83 minutes this season — his total from the 2021-22 season, when injuries to Bam Adebayo, Dewayne Dedmon, Markieff Morris and COVID-19 protocols forced Erik Spoelstra to play him.

And with the Heat’s well-known needs at the power forward following P.J. Tucker’s departure, perhaps the Heat will need Haslem should he decide to return again.

Haslem said that whether he returns to play, he’ll always be a part of the Heat family. He mentioned that he wants to be an owner.

“An owner that gets out there and does more than just sit on the sideline, cross his legs and watch. I want to work. I want to continue to push the culture and continue to impact the next generation of winning for the Miami Heat.”