It was announced Friday that the Miami Heat will retire Udonis Haslem's jersey up to the rafters of the Kaseya Center on Jan. 19 when the team faces the Atlanta Hawks. Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke before tonight's game against, funny enough, the Hawks where he spoke about Haslem, what he meant to the team, and the opponent they face in front of them.

There's no doubt that Haslem's presence is felt in every inch of the Heat organization as he has spent 20 seasons with the team before retiring earlier this year when the team lost in the NBA Finals to the Denver Nuggets. Spoelstra said to the media that he is eager for the celebration and there is no one that deserves it more than Haslem who has given go much to Miami.

“‘I'm definitely looking forward to the celebration in honoring UD [Haslem]. He is the face of our culture now and everything that we stand for. He lived it, breathed it, and bled it for all those years,” Spoelstra said. “That's why he has so much respect around this association, in our building, in the entire 305, in this district, he's done it all on the court and off the court. It's going to be a really cool night. It'd be good for everybody to see that. And I think the rest of league will acknowledge that as well.”

Haslem still with the heat…but not as a player

Miami Heat's new member of the front office Udonis Haslem in front of the Kaseya Center.

It's going to be an exciting night for Haslem who has won three championships with the team and leads all-time in rebounds. He also ranks among the team in in games played (second), minutes (second), and field goals made (fifth). Haslem will be the sixth Miami player to join the rafters as the others are Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, and Tim Hardaway.

He won't be far from the organization as he obtained a front office role with Miami as Vice President of Basketball Development. According to the team, Haslem's responsibilities includes ““being a resource to the coaching staff, mentoring both HEAT and Skyforce players as well as representing the organization in the community and in business endeavors.”

Spoelstra on Friday's game against the Hawks

In terms of the contest Friday against Alanta, the Heat will have their hands full as they take on point guard Trae Young who is on the best streak this season as in the past five games, he's scored at least 30 points and 10 assists. Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints that besides Young, the team as a whole has been dangerous on offense which should provide a lot of challenges to Miami.

“I felt like the last handful of years, they've been one of the better scoring teams in the league, and they're blowing that all out the door this year. They really can score, they put up big numbers,” Spoelstra said. “He's [Trae Young] definitely going to go for that. And we have to be prepare not only for him, but [Bogdan] Bogdanović has had a really good five games. [Dejounte] Murray is always extremely disruptive. And I just think overall, they're scoring at ease, they make it look easy, and we will have to do a lot of challenging things to be able to slow them down.”

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Who's in and who's out for Miami?

These two teams faced off earlier in the season on Nov. 11 where the Heat came out with a victory, 117-109. While any team is different than how they were a month ago, one aspect will be the same for Miami and it's that star Jimmy Butler will be out.

However, the Heat returned not just big-man Bam Adebayo, but also exciting scorer Tyler Herro for last Monday's game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. They should be the focus for the team alongside Jaime Jaquez Jr. who has been impressing every chance he gets as the rookie who is expected to be in the starting lineup like in Wednesday's win against the Orlando Magic.

The Heat are 16-12 on the season which puts them at sixth in the Eastern Conference compared to Atlanta who is at 10th. The two teams face off at 8:00 p.m. (EST) as Miami looks to win two in a row.