Long-time Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem is set to have an expanded role with the organization following his retirement from playing according to The Sun Sentinel's Ira Winderman.
During Monday's media availability for the team, head coach Erik Spoelstra said that Haslem will have a role in player development and in the front office. He added that it is still being figured out the specifics of what the job will be.
This seemed like a move that was bound to happen as Haslem has spent 20 seasons with the Heat as a player and even in the later years where his play had regressed, he was an avid leader in the locker room that everybody looked up to. It was even an active conversation during training camp of who on the roster would fill in that void.
Fortuantely, he hasn't been too far from the program as Haslem has been seen practicing with the team several times. In fact, he was seen at the facility Monday in drills and even hitting some mid-range shots.
Who could fill in for Udonis Haslem's leadership?
Heat star Bam Adebayo is one of the players looking to be in that leadership role that Haslem had been in for so long as he said during training camp that the team will miss him being a player.
“We do miss UD. When you’ve been around a guy with that much equity invested into him, it’s one of those moments where you don’t hear him and it settles in that he’s not going to be around,” Adebayo said. “But for the most part, we handled that as a collective group. But there will never be another UD, so I have the utmost respect for him and I hope he’s somewhere with his feet kicked up and relaxing.”
As Spoelstra said earlier today, it probably won't be too long till Heat fans see Haslem back with the organization after retiring back in July of 2023. The Heat open the season Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons.
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