It will be a great night for the Miami Heat organization and former player Udonis Haslem as they will retire his number and hang his jersey up on the rafters to be immortalized for eternity. However, there is also a game to prepare for Friday night as the team looks to brush off a dreadful loss to the Toronto Raptors as they face the Atlanta Hawks.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra spoke to the media before the contest about celebrating the career of Haslem while knowing there is a game in front of them. The ceremony to raise the long-time Miami player's jersey will happen at halftime.

Spoelstra was candid to the media before the game saying that he has “mixed emotions” about the ceremony Friday night, but only because it puts into perspective how quickly time moves. Haslem, Spoelstra, and other Heat legends had a dinner the night prior where the reflection was made according to the head coach.

“Really mixed emotions about it. We had a great dinner last night, it was really just cool seeing a bunch of Heat lifers show up for that…to celebrate UD's impact on our entire organization, on our hearts, and all of 305 down here,” Spoelstra said. “One common thing that UD said is just how fast it goes, then all of a sudden, you have a night like this. Now, not everybody can have a night like this and that just speaks to UD's greatness as a culture steward and the relationship that is created here in this organization, it's remarkable. You look at the names that are up there and UD's name is going to be up there tonight, it's surreal.”

Spoelstra talks the balance of preparing for game and celebrating Haslem

Miami Heat player Udonis Haslem and head coach Erik Spoelstra in front of the Kaseya Center.

The team has actually experienced this type of situation recently as last Sunday, the Heat beat the Charlotte Hornets on the same night they were celebrating Dwayne Wade getting inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame last year. Spoelstra said to ClutchPoints that he wants the team to “be present” for the festivities about Haslem, but also knowing that the 43-year old would want them to win the game.

“First and foremost, we talked about today in the shoot around, I want everybody to be present and celebrate this. This means a lot to UD [Haslem] and to our organization. And I also mentioned that we all know UD. He wants us to win. He wants us to play the right way,” Spoelstra said. “And so he's gonna be pointing at us if we're not playing the right way, and then the last thing would be, this is good for us to be able to go through that, to compete in the first half and have that intermission and then to be able to have the mental toughness to be able to recalibrate and get after it and finish it off in the second half.”

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Haslem joining Heat legends

Haslem will join the likes of Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh, Shaquille O'Neal, Alonzo Mourning, and Tim Hardaway as former Heat players to have their jerseys retired. It goes to show how much impact he has had on the organization as the other five people mentioned are all in the Hall of Fame and he likely won't be.

However, Haslem has the most rebounds in Heat history with rebounds and ranks among the team in all-time leaders in games played (second), minutes (second), and field goals made (fifth).

Miami will come back home for a short one-game stint Friday as they face the Atlanta Hawks in what should be another celebratory night as they retire Haslem's jersey. Subsequently, the team is 24-17 on the season which puts them sixth in the Eastern Conference.