Udonis Haslem finding new ways to help Heat in retirement: ‘I love having him in any kind of role’

For the first time in more than 20 years, the Miami Heat on Wednesday will open a season without Udonis Haslem on its roster. But Haslem is still making his presence felt.

Even in retirement, Haslem is using his voice and knowledge to help the Heat just four months after his playing career came to an end in June following 20 NBA seasons. While Haslem’s role remains undefined for now, he has been an active participant in recent Heat practices as an extension of Erik Spoelstra’s coaching staff.

“I love it,” Spoelstra said of Haslem’s assistance at practices, with the Heat opening the regular season on Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons at Kaseya Center. “UD is going to be around and he’s going to serve a lot of different capacities for our organization — downstairs and upstairs.

“But I love having him in the gym, I love having him in the locker room. I love having him in any kind of role. We’re going to figure this out. It’s an open canvas. He doesn’t want to be called a coach. I don’t care what we call him, I just want him around. We’ll figure out what that’s going to look like. But I love when he’s around in a practice or shootaround, all those things.”

During the short period that media was allowed to view Heat practices this week, the 43-year-old Haslem took part in two-on-two games with some of the team’s younger developmental players.

“I feel like we keep him young, we keep him engaged, we keep his mind working so he has something to think about other than his family,” Heat center and Haslem’s close friend Bam Adebayo said. “It gives him something to do, but also he’s still able to come in here and talk to the young guys and share his story and share his mentality. It’s still good to have him around.”

Haslem has made it clear in recent years that he does not want to become a coach in retirement, instead saying that he hopes to become part of the Heat ownership group led by the father-son duo of managing general partner Micky Arison and chief executive officer Nick Arison.

Ownership has not become Haslem’s reality yet, but he’s trying to find another way to positively impact the Heat. Haslem was at the Heat’s team barbecue in Boca Raton at the end of training camp earlier this month and helped Spoelstra’s staff at Heat shootarounds and practices during the preseason.

“I’m still in the sell mode on UD,” Spoelstra said. “But he wants to be involved, too. We just have to figure this out. How much it will be with my group, how much it will be upstairs. He wants to do it all and we want him to do it all, and we have some time to work through that.”

Haslem’s goal remains the same even in retirement: help the Heat win a championship. Haslem was on Miami’s roster for each of the franchise’s three NBA titles in 2006, 2012 and 2013.

“Literally, nothing has changed,” Haslem said to the Miami Herald earlier this month. “Obviously, I just stepped to the side a little bit. But nothing has changed about myself and my mindset and what I would like to do as far as helping that organization win a championship. That doesn’t change.”

Along with working to find a new role with the Heat, Haslem has also begun his broadcasting career during his first few months as a retired player. He served as a guest analyst for TNT’s broadcast of the Heat’s preseason road matchup against the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 13.

Haslem, a Miami native who spent the last 16 seasons as a Heat captain, is only the third player to spend an entire NBA career lasting at least 20 seasons with one team. The others on that short list are Dirk Nowitzki (21 seasons with Dallas Mavericks) and Kobe Bryant (20 seasons with Los Angeles Lakers), and Haslem is the only one to do it in his hometown.

“It’s always good to have the GOATs (greatest of all time players) of the organization, the greats who know what it takes to win at this level for this organization,” Heat star and Haslem’s former teammate Jimmy Butler said. “With him here, it’s always smiles. We know it’s going to be a little extra competition whenever he’s in the gym.”

UNDERDOGS AGAIN

Over the last four seasons, the Heat has advanced to the Eastern Conference finals three times and to the NBA Finals two times.

But after losing two starters from last season’s playoff run to the NBA Finals (Max Strus and Gabe Vincent) and not making a major upgrade this past summer, the Heat is again in somewhat of an underdog role. According to BetOnline, the Heat enters the season with the fourth-best odds to win the East behind the No. 1 Milwaukee Bucks, No. 2 Boston Celtics and No. 3 Philadelphia 76ers.

“We just got to win more games than we did last year,” Butler said when asked what it’s going to take to be better than last season. “I think if we win, everybody’s narrative is going to change.”

BAM’S OFF-COURT WORK

On Saturday, Adebayo and The BBB Foundation unveiled a new outdoor fitness center and basketball court at the Chapman Partnership Homeless Assistance Center in Homestead.

Dedicated to the 300 residents at the Chapman Partnership Center, the court has the phase “Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot” painted along the side.

“I’ve never had an NBA player give me the opportunity to build us a court where I’m from,” Adebayo said. “It’s always been us taking the goal into the middle of the street and just playing street ball. So for those kids to have that type of court and they got a little weight room and obviously somebody they can look up to. … For the most part, it’s just something I never got. So I’m blessing somebody else.”

INJURY REPORT

The only two players on the Heat’s injury report for Wednesday’s season opener are Haywood Highsmith (sprained left knee) and Josh Richardson (left foot discomfort). Both players have been ruled out for the first game of the regular season.

Meanwhile, the Pistons will be without Bojan Bogdanovic (right calf strain), Isaiah Livers (sprained left ankle) and Monte Morris (right quadriceps strain) against the Heat.