Though Udonis Haslem has already made it clear that he will be returning for his 20th season with the Miami Heat, it looks as though he is already considering what will come after he hangs up his No. 40 jersey for good.
Haslem absolutely wants to be a part of the Heat organization past his playing career, and he’s already made it clear that he wants to become a part of the team’s ownership group at some point in the future.
With that lofty goal also comes an important warning to keep in mind. As many Heat fans will remember, former star Dwyane Wade was widely expected to one day become a part of the team’s ownership group.
That situation went awry, however, and Wade is now a partial owner of the Utah Jazz. Haslem already knows that he is going to have to be careful to make sure that his plans to become a part of the Heat’s ownership don’t turn upside down.
“We have to figure it out, man,” Haslem told the Miami Herald last month. “What we’re not going to do is let it end how it ended with Dwyane and a lot of other guys. We’re not going to let that happen. We have to learn from those mistakes and we have to do better, all of us. There’s too much sacrifice, too many memories, too much success to let it end that way because in the blink of an eye it can all be different. I’ve seen it. I’ve watched how in the blink of an eye, everything can change and all you will have is your memories and you want to share those with the people that you created them with.”
For Wade, being part of an ownership group appeared to be the primary goal, and he never seemed married to the idea of it being with the Heat. As for Haslem, he admitted that he hasn’t even considered trying to be an owner of any team other than the one in Miami.
“I never thought about it and I don’t want that to be the case,” he said.
Haslem has never been one to not speak his mind, and when Wade made the choice to join the Jazz’s ownership group, Haslem made it clear that he didn’t like the move.
“Yeah, it was hurtful,” Haslem said after being asked about the matter earlier this year.
The two were longtime teammates and won three championships together, and it’s not hard to understand why Wade’s decision felt like a form of betrayal. Last summer, Wade offered a message to the fans that felt abandoned by his move.
“No, it doesn’t seem silly at all,” Wade told GQ when asked about some Heat fans feeling abandoned. “As an athlete, you get it. But, the only thing you can do is live your life and do things for you and your family. And one thing I did for Miami in my 14-and-a-half-year career is give them all I had. They continue to embrace me and my family even though we are not living in that zip code. The love is always there for me, and I think it’s always gonna be there from the fans. We experienced something real together and it’s gonna last all of us a lifetime. I get it, man. But I’m not just one person to stay in one place. I’m a butterfly, man. And I gotta fly. I gotta move. I gotta go. So, this is just the next step in my journey. But, all love to Miami. All love.”
Still, it’s hard to fault Wade for doing what he felt was best for him.
Hopefully a similar outcome does not end up taking place with Haslem. It’d be wonderful to one day see him watching Heat basketball as an owner of the team.