Tag: Finals

Udonis Haslem (1998-02) – Center/Power Forward

Admittedly, I never thought that much of Udonis Haslem when he played for the Gators at the turn of the millennium, but his superlative play in college along with his lengthy and successful NBA career puts him in the upper echelon of Gators men’s basketball history.

Haslem was born in Miami, Fla., where he would play almost his entire professional basketball career. He attended both Wolfson High School in Jacksonville and later Miami High School, where he — alongside another future NBA center, Steve Blake — led the team to state titles in 1997 and 1998. The latter crown was vacated after it was discovered that Halsem and other players had circumvented residency requirements.

The young center accepted an athletic scholarship to play under Billy Donovan at UF in 1998, where he started for four years on a squad that saw quite a bit of success. The Gators made the NCAA Tournament every year of Haslem’s tenure, including a heartbreaking appearance in the 2000 NCAA Finals which they lost to Michigan State.

Haslem averaged double-digit points every season he played in Gainesville, with his peak coming his junior year when he averaged 16.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, one assist and one block per game. At the slight expense of his scoring output, he diversified his game a bit more his senior season, averaging 16 points along with 8.3 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 blocks.

Over the course of his collegiate career, Haslem averaged 13.7 points and 6.4 rebounds, along with 1.1 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.9 blocks per game. He accrued several awards, including NCAA All-Region, NCAA-All Tournament and three All-SEC honors and finished third in team history in points scored (1,782) and tenth in rebounds (831).

Haslem went undrafted in the 2002 NBA Draft and subsequently traveled to France to play professional ball. He arrived in Europe weighing nearly 300 pounds, 50 of which he shed over the course of eight months. After his short stint overseas, he signed with the Miami Heat in August of 2003.

There was a great deal of success awaiting Haslem in his home town, beginning with the Second Team All-Rookie honors he earned his first season, which featured him in the Rookie Challenge during All-Star weekend while helping the Heat reach the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Four of the next five seasons — barely missing a fifth with a 9.9 scoring average in 2009-10 — Haslem averaged double-digit points in what would be the peak of his career. He reached his career-high for rebounds in a season with 9.1 per game his second year, though he also averaged one tick less at nine boards even in 2007-08. Over that stretch, he played in at least 75 games, save for that nine-rebound season, in which he only played 49 games due to an ankle injury — though he finished with a career-high 12 points per game average.

In his 17 seasons with the Heat — the only NBA team he has played for — Haslem has averaged 7.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 857 games and is still on the active roster. He has been on a series of one-year contracts since 2016 anticipating his retirement, vacillating on whether or not to call it quits. As of February of 2020, he remains uncommitted to hanging up his shoes and could return for season No. 18 next season in 2020-21.

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