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Miami Heat legend Udonis Haslem was on “The Pat Bev Podcast” with basketball player Patrick Beverly where the co-host in Rone asked him about the differences between living in the United States of America compared to Europe. It would result in Haslem retelling stories of the few times he was arrested in Europe since he lived in France to play basketball before joining the Heat organization.
The story would involve Haslem getting into a car accident on his way to practice for the basketball team he was on called Chalon-Sur-Saône where he played from 2002 to 2003. He would talk about the language barrier between him and the police officer and decided to go to practice anyways where they arrested him as told by Haslem himself to Beverley and his co-host.
“The first time I was just driving and I got in a car accident, and I was on my way to practice,” Haslem said on the show that aired Wednesday. “I can see the gym right there, so I was like a 2 minute walk to the gym. I was arguing with the guy, he was speaking French I was speaking English, we weren’t getting any f—-ing where. So the name of the team is on the car, so I say f—k it, they know where to find me, I’ve got 10 minutes to get to practice. That mother f—-er came to practice and took me to jail.”
Haslem spent nine months in France after he went undrafted playing for the University of Florida where he credited his time overseas to become an unrecognizable player which prepared him for the NBA spotlight.
Udonis Haslem tells another arrest story before building legacy with Heat
However, Haslem would also tell a second story of when he was with his aunt and he got arrested in an incident that involved a current strike at that time.
“The second time they were going through a transportation strike, so buses were shut down, the trains were shut down, they were striking,” Haslem said. “There was also a time that one of our leaders had said something about french fries, there was a comment made about french fries. So during that strike there was a lot of people in the street saying Americans go home. Me and my aunt happened to be out, traveling out and about, and as they were saying Americans go home, they didn’t want to get out of the way of our car. So now my Aunt’s like okay I’m going to take you mother f—-ers with us…Mother f—-ers took me to jail again.”
As mentioned before, Haslem's time in France while small in his career, was vital to him being the player that made him crucial to the Heat organization for the last 20 seasons. He ranks among the best in Heat history as he has the most rebounds in franchise history and has a spot in in all-time leaders in games played (second), minutes (second), and field goals made (fifth).
Haslem got his jersey retired next to such stars as Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O'Neal, Tim Hardaway, Chris Bosh, and Alonzo Mourning. He also is still with the organization as Vice President of Player Development so he will keep making an impact with his team.
