Udonis Haslem

Udonis Haslem

No. 40   Miami Heat
Power forward
Personal information
Date of birth	June 9, 1980 (1980-06-09)
Place of birth	Miami, Florida
Nationality	American
High school	Miami
Listed height	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)
Listed weight	235 lb (107 kg)
Career information
College	Florida (1998-2002)
NBA Draft	2002 / Undrafted
Pro career	2002–present
Career history
2002–2003	Chalon-sur-Saône (France)
2003–present	Miami Heat
Career highlights and awards
NBA Champion (2006) NBA All-Rookie Second Team (2004)
Stats at NBA.com

Udonis Johneal Haslem (born June 9, 1980) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a power forward for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Haslem played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a key member of four Florida Gators NCAA tournament teams. He played professional basketball in France for a year, and then signed with the Miami Heat as an undrafted free agent in 2003.

Early years

Haslem was born in Miami, Florida. He attended Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Florida, then Miami Senior High School in Miami. He helped lead Miami High to state titles in 1997 and 1998 (the last of three in a row), playing alongside another future NBA player, Steve Blake. The team was coached by current Kansas State head coach Frank Martin.

However, an investigation by the Miami New Times revealed that Haslem, Blake and several other players circumvented residency requirements. The New Times reported that while he claimed to live in Miami, he actually lived in Miramar, in Broward County. His official school address was an efficiency apartment owned by a longtime Miami High booster, which was also a violation of Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) rules. As a result, Miami High was stripped of its 1998 title and ordered to forfeit its entire schedule.

College career

Haslem accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators basketball team from 1998 to 2002, while majoring in leisure service management. As the Gators' starting center for four years, he was part of Donovan's 1998 recruiting class that raised the national prominence of the Florida Gators basketball program, and included future Miami Heat teammate Mike Miller. Fans would yell the letter "U" in unison after his big plays. His sophomore season saw the team advance to the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship game, before falling to the Michigan State Spartans. The Gators received NCAA tournament invitations all four years he was with the team–the first time in the program's history. Haslem ranks third in school history in points scored (1,782) and tenth in rebounds (831). He will be inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in Spring 2012.

Professional career

After leaving Florida in 2002, his weight ballooned in excess of 300 pounds and he became a late-preseason roster cut with the Atlanta Hawks. Haslem then signed with Chalon-Sur-Saône, a professional team in France. While averaging 16.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game, Haslem also managed to lose 70 pounds over the course of that year, which resulted in his earning a spot in the NBA summer leagues.

He was signed by the Miami Heat as an undrafted rookie in 2003. As a rookie, he backed up Brian Grant and provided rebounding and defense. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team, and played in the rookie challenge during All-Star weekend. He assumed the starting power forward position in 2004 after teammate Lamar Odom was traded as part of a package that was shipped to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that brought superstar center Shaquille O'Neal back to Florida. He was helpful yet again, being a tough rebounder and developing an effective 15 foot jump-shot. He has been called a perfect complement to O'Neal's style of play, and was critical in the Heat's playoff run to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons. Following the season his two-year contract was renewed after upping his rookie averages of 7.3 points and 6.3 rebounds to 10.9 and 9.1 in his second season. In 2005–2006, he again was the starting power forward. Despite increased pressure from O'Neal battling injuries and the acquisition of three-time All-Star Antoine Walker, Haslem retained the starting spot.

Haslem won an NBA championship with the Heat in 2006, scoring 17 points in the title-clinching game 6 against the Dallas Mavericks.

On April 22, 2006, in a first-round playoff game against the Chicago Bulls, Haslem was ejected for throwing his mouthpiece at referee Joe Crawford. Haslem had been upset that a foul was not called on a play on the Bulls' end of the court. After the game, he claimed that he had not deliberately aimed at Crawford, and that the mouthpiece's trajectory was an accident. He apologized to fans and to his teammates, and stated that he would also apologize to Crawford when the opportunity arose. The NBA reviewed the incident, and they suspended Haslem for game 2 of the series against the Bulls on April 24, 2006.

On November 10, 2006, Haslem scored a career-high 28 points on 10-for-14 shooting and grabbed nine rebounds in a 113–106 win over the Nets.

When Shaquille O'Neal was traded and Alonzo Mourning went down with an injury, Haslem played the center position during the 2007–08 season.

On July 12, 2010, Haslem re-signed with the Heat. He would have received nearly $10 million more if he were to sign with the Dallas Mavericks or Denver Nuggets.

NBA career statistics

Legend
GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2003–04	Miami	75	24	23.9	.459	.000	.765	6.3	.7	.4	.3	7.3
2004–05	Miami	80	80	33.4	.540	.000	.791	9.1	1.4	.8	.5	10.9
2005–06	Miami	81	80	30.8	.508	.000	.789	7.8	1.2	.6	.2	9.3
2006–07	Miami	79	79	31.4	.492	.000	.680	8.3	1.2	.6	.3	10.7
2007–08	Miami	49	48	36.8	.467	.000	.810	9.0	1.4	.8	.4	12.0
2008–09	Miami	75	75	34.1	.518	.000	.753	8.2	1.1	.6	.3	10.6
2009–10	Miami	78	0	27.9	.494	.000	.762	8.1	.7	.4	.3	9.9
2010–11	Miami	13	0	26.5	.512	.000	.800	8.2	.5	.5	.2	8.0
Career		530	386	30.8	.500	.000	.763	8.1	1.1	.6	.3	10.0

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2004	Miami	13	0	15.3	.394	.000	.677	3.4	.2	.4	.2	3.6
2005	Miami	15	15	36.2	.491	.000	.739	10.0	1.0	.5	.4	9.2
2006	Miami	22	22	29.5	.493	.000	.683	7.4	.8	.6	.3	8.6
2007	Miami	4	4	25.8	.480	.000	.750	5.3	1.0	.2	.5	7.5
2009	Miami	7	7	29.1	.543	.000	.900	8.7	.4	.4	.4	8.4
2010	Miami	5	0	28.4	.351	.000	.667	7.4	.8	.2	.2	6.0
2011	Miami	12	0	24.2	.397	.000	.900	4.5	.8	.5	.3	5.3
Career		78	48	27.3	.465	.000	.725	6.8	.7	.5	.3	7.1

See also

• Florida Gators
• List of Florida Gators basketball players

External links

• NBA.com Profile – Udonis Haslem
• Basketball-Reference.com: Udonis Haslem
• Florida Gators bio