Haslem explains why the big 3 Heat don’t win without him.

[Kblaze8855]

“S—, I was almost outta here — they ain’t have no money left,” Haslem said in an interview with Tyler R. Tynes of GQ (https://www.gq.com/story/udonis-haslem-miami-heat-culture). “I was about gone. They wasn’t saving enough for me. They just wanted the big boys. They wasn’t thinking about me, the only one who was was [Wade]. He understood my importance to this city and franchise and thank God he did because it paid off. I don’t care what nobody say, I had my moments and we don’t win none of those rings without me.”.




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“You can surround guys who drive the bus, who sit on the bus, but if you ain’t got somebody who can change the tires and the oil, your bus ain’t moving,” Haslem continued. “You need a guy like me: who will do the dirty work, take that charge, do the things that won’t show up on the statsheet but it equals winning. [Wade] understood that, LeBron understood that, [Bosh] understood that. If they didn’t, it’s no way those guys take less money and cut off a piece of their pie for me to stay. They didn’t know me. They didn’t have to do that. But they understood what I brought to the table and I was able to deliver.”






On one hand I’ve been meaning to ask how we dumbed down the sport to being a matter of what the top 2 guys score to decide what a good team is….on the other….it’s Haslem insisting on a lot of personal credit which goes against my “You idiots know no one or even two people win rings right?” thing I was gonna write up.

Ill just leave all that for another time.

How do you feel about what he had to say there?

[HylianNightmare]

Must be why he's still in the league

[HBK_Kliq_2]

This is why you don't stroke role players egos and let them ride your bench for 20 years, they start thinking their 4 points per game is a difference between a championship or losing.

[SouBeachTalents]

I actually agree with his 2nd point completely, you do need role players to do the dirty work and make plays that don't show up on the stat sheet. Having said that, I still think Miami wins both those titles without him. The only argument you could make is if you believe his locker room presence & leadership made a clear difference to the team, which considering the Heat have kept him around for nearly 20 years, would have at least some validity.

[Kblaze8855]

He is the obvious team leader. One year Goran Dragic was voted co captain along with Haslem and he seemed almost embarrassed. I remember he had an interview about it and he said along the lines of “We all know OG is the leader of this team”.

His respect in the locker room is serious.

[ArbitraryWater]

delusional

[Full Court]

This is why you don't stroke role players egos and let them ride your bench for 20 years, they start thinking their 4 points per game is a difference between a championship or losing.

Sometimes they are the difference though. No team ever won a championship without key role players performing their function well.

[Duderonomy]

Sometimes they are the difference though. No team ever won a championship without key role players performing their function well.

The 2017, 2018 Warriors really needed Jordan Bell to show up :facepalm

[Charlie Sheen]

The 2017, 2018 Warriors really needed Jordan Bell to show up :facepalm

The KD Warriors had an overwhelming talent advantage. I believe the poster you replied to was making a point about the contributions of players like Haslem have greater value to teams with slimmer margins between victory and defeat. A point I agree with.

[Reggie43]

Plenty of guys would have loved to do the dirty work for those teams. A guy like Jeff Foster would have been much much much more apreciated if he was lucky enough to have been part of those insanely talented teams and playing his role.

[FultzNationRISE]

“S—, I was almost outta here — they ain’t have no money left,” Haslem said in an interview with Tyler R. Tynes of GQ. “I was about gone. They wasn’t saving enough for me. They just wanted the big boys. They wasn’t thinking about me, the only one who was was [Wade]. He understood my importance to this city and franchise and thank God he did because it paid off. I don’t care what nobody say, I had my moments and we don’t win none of those rings without me.”.




also



“You can surround guys who drive the bus, who sit on the bus, but if you ain’t got somebody who can change the tires and the oil, your bus ain’t moving,” Haslem continued. “You need a guy like me: who will do the dirty work, take that charge, do the things that won’t show up on the statsheet but it equals winning. [Wade] understood that, LeBron understood that, understood that. If they didn’t, it’s no way those guys take less money and cut off a piece of their pie for me to stay. They didn’t know me. They didn’t have to do that. [B]But they understood what I brought to the table and I was able to deliver.”

That part made me lol out loud.