This week the worst kept secret in the NBA became official. Udonis Haslem announced his retirement from professional basketball after two decades wearing the Miami Heat jersey, the only one he has worn in the NBA. The three-time champion leaves him with 879 games behind him, averaging 7.5 points and after losing the finals against Denver in his last chance to get a fourth ring. And with his departure, With the end of Haslem’s career, the end of an endangered breed is near: the ‘one-club men’, players who have only worn one shirt in their career.
His 20 seasons for the Miami Heat are the second-highest mark in NBA history, behind only behind Dirk Nowitzki, who played 21 years for the Mavericks (1998-2019) before retiring. kobe bryant He also spent 20 seasons wearing the same jersey, that of the Lakers, despite being drafted by the Charlotte Hornets in 1996. Haslem came to the league after not being selected in the draft in 2002 and spend a season in France, playing for Chalon-sur-Saone. That season he lost more than 40 pounds and averaged nearly a double-double before receiving an offer from Miami, from where Haslem is native. Udonis He also played high school and college in Florida, being a legend in the Sunshine State.
With the withdrawal of Haslem, the next active player to add more seasons in the same team and who has worn only one jersey in the NBA is Steph Curry. The point guard will begin his fifteenth season with Golden State in October, where he made his debut in 2009, slipping into the top-10 in history. After CurryYour partner Klay will be in thirteen (although he missed two due to injury) and Draymond Green in twelve. The big-3 of the Warriors are the only players who exceed the dozen, although tied with Dray there is a Damian Lillard whose days with Portland are numbered and who still wants to wear the Miami Heat jersey.
Y Lillard He is not the only one who has changed or will change teams in recent months. Bradley Beal had eleven seasons in Washington and Marcus Smart nine in Boston Celtics, but both will have a new team for the next course. Beal will be part of the Suns, with Kevin Durant y Devin Booker, y Smart was changed by Kristaps Porzingis and will play for the Grizzlies. and from behind, Kart-Anthony Towns o Myles Turner They have been in trade rumors for the past few weeks, despite spending eight years in Minnesota and Indiana respectively. The loyalty of the players with their franchises has been called into question by the Lillard casebut the franchises have not known how to deal with the players as previously.
In history there are names that were left out of this magical list for playing one last season in another team. Karl Malone signed with the Lakers after 18 years in Utah, Hakeem Olajuwon He was transferred to Toronto where he played 61 games after 17 seasons with Houston or the most famous, Michael Jordan. They spent 15 years with the Chicago Bulls, with two retirements, before returning to play with the Wizards at the age of 40.. None of them is considered ‘one-club men’ despite the fact that history only remembers them with a shirt, just like nobody remembers Tony Parker from his time in Charlotte in 2018 or Pat Ewing as a SuperSonics player in 2000.
There is hope in the future: Nikola Jokic will start his ninth season in Denver, as Devin Booker en los Suns o Kevon Looney en Golden State, always protagonist of the San Francisco franchise, but the trend has changed. At the beginning of the century, Tim Duncan (19 seasons) and Manu Ginobili (16) hung up their boots having played alone in San Antonio, Reggie Miller (18) retired as Pacer, where he debuted and John Stockton He left it after 19 years in Utah, all of them in the top-7 all-time. The other members of the top-ten on the list are from the 1960s, John Havlicek and his 16 years in Boston, and Hal Greer y Dolph Schayesboth with 15 seasons with the Sixers, known in their early years as the Syracuse Nationals. Who will be the new Udonis Haslem?
What we know is that Udonis retires as Miami’s all-time rebounding leader, second in games and minutes after Dwyane Wade, and in the top-5 in shots made and attempted, personal fouls and total win shares. He was only 328 points away from beating Chris Bosh as fifth top scorer and leaves knowing that in the future, in the short term, Heat’s roof will have his jersey removedjoining Bosh, Wade, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal y Michael Jordan, who never played for the Heat. #40 of Haslem it will not be used again by another player in Miami.
Sports journalist covering the NBA from Toronto. Leaving from Barcelona, he has lived in Boston, Sydney and Bogotá before staying in Canada to bring the best basketball league on the planet. All NBA, a bit of basketball, because he grew up with Tracy McGrady and Pau Gasol, but also with Sarunas Jasikevicius and Arvydas Macijauskas. He studied journalism in Barcelona, where he worked in various media and radio stations, and currently also collaborates with Gigantes del Basket and NBA Spain. He was in the NBA finals in which Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Sergio Scariolo got their first ring. If you don’t see him here, he’s probably on Twitter. …
2023-08-01 04:28:28
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