The Miami Heat have gone through plenty of ups and downs throughout the 2022-23 campaign, and big man Udonis Haslem recently revealed he’s been “losing sleep” over it.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Haslem said. “I’m losing sleep at night, you know what I mean. This is not the way I wanted my last year to go. But I think definitely for me, nothing has been easy in life and I’ve had to work for everything. It’s just another situation where you got to work, man. For us to get what we want, we got to push a little harder, give a little more and that’s just how it is in life.”
Before the regular season began, Haslem announced that the 2022-23 season would be his last as a player. The University of Florida product is in his 20th season with the Heat.
Though Haslem hasn’t gotten much playing time over the last few seasons, he still plays an important role for the team as a veteran leader in the locker room.
He isn’t shy to call out anyone on the team, as evidence by his heated argument with Heat superstar Jimmy Butler in March of last year.
The 42-year-old has only appeared in a total of six games this season for the Heat, and with the recent additions of Kevin Love and Cody Zeller, he’s now even lower on the depth chart.
Though he’d surely love to be out on the court getting some run, the three-time champion is undoubtedly more focused on how far the team can go this season.
Miami is currently 33-29 and in seventh place in the Eastern Conference. It managed to record a fantastic win and snap a four-game losing streak on Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers.
Perhaps Monday’s game will jump-start the team’s season. The Heat have a nice six-game home stand coming up that will begin on Wednesday with another game against the 76ers.
The Heat are 19-10 at home this season, the ninth-best home mark in the entire league. Going 5-1 or even 4-2 across this home stand would go a long way toward the franchise’s pursuit of a top-six seed this season.
What does the future hold for Haslem?
The Florida native recently revealed that he plans to be around the Heat every day next season and beyond. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, Haslem wants to be a “hands-on minority owner, a cog helping bridge all levels of the organization.”
Haslem’s desire to become a minority owner of the Heat has been known for some time. It’ll be a sad day once Haslem’s playing career officially comes to an end, but Heat fans will rest easy knowing the beloved big man will still be around.