Friends who chose to become family’: Dwyane Wade and Udonis Haslem remain the foundation for the Miami Heat
Shandel Richardson Nov 2, 2018
6
MIAMI — At the time, Dwyane Wade and wife Gabrielle Union were enjoying a vacation abroad a few months before the start of the 2010-11 NBA season. Wade had just convinced LeBron James and Chris Bosh to team up with him on the Miami Heat. Life was good for Wade — until his offseason break was interrupted by a phone call.
On the other end of the line was longtime teammate Udonis Haslem, who delivered the painful news that his mother, Debra, had died after a long bout with cancer. She was 53.
Without hesitation, Wade immediately changed his plans.
“We flew right back to Miami to be by UD’s side,” Union said. “They are friends who chose to become family. Neither had ideal childhoods and could easily use that as an excuse to be less than great friends, husbands and fathers. They are the personification to breaking the cycle and they keep other in check.”
Stories of such brotherhood have frequented their 14 1/2 seasons as teammates. While their playing days together will end sometime next spring or summer, the friendship they have built will remain forever.
Tim Reynolds
✔@ByTimReynolds
Dwayne Wade and Udonis Haslem are drinking champagne - out of flutes - in the locker room. A celebration of Season 15.
11:16 PM - Apr 11, 2018
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In September, days before the start of training camp, Wade announced he would return for a 16th and final season. At 38, Haslem isn’t too far behind retirement-wise, although he’s yet to make anything official. The players are far removed from their days as key contributors but still remain the heartbeat of the Heat franchise.
“It’s been a great ride,” Haslem said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs. We’ve shared victories and we’ve shared each other’s defeats, not just on the court but off the court as well. That’s how our bond has grown to become more than just teammates. We’ve become brothers. We’re family. We have similar stories.”
View image on Twitter
Udonis Haslem
✔@ThisIsUD
ME: We ain't supposed to be here!!
@DwyaneWade: Yeah I know!!
D: But we are!!
ME: Yeah I know!!
ME: So what we gon do??
D: F**K it let's be great!!
#tbt #og #heatlifer #biggerthanbasketball
11:52 AM - Oct 11, 2018
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The Wade-Haslem combo ranks in popularity with Crocket and Tubbs of “Miami Vice” among South Florida duos. They are considered as equally iconic as Mike Lowrey and Marcus Burnett, of the movie “Bad Boys” fame. The signature line from the film perfectly represents Wade and Haslem: “We ride together. We die together.”
They have already played the most games together of any active, current teammates in the NBA.
“A promise kept,” Wade said of playing one final season together. “I don’t know what UD is doing at the end of this year, but I know what I’m doing. That’s a promise that I wanted to keep to him that we made a long time ago.”
Stats no longer reflect their worth, but Wade and Haslem have served as the bridge connecting the old with the new. Whether it’s Haslem giving newcomer Rodney McGruder a car to drive when he arrived two seasons ago or Wade offering countless bits of advice to guard Josh Richardson, they have been the biggest examples of the “Heat Lifer” motto the organization pushes repeatedly.
“The biggest thing is seeing the selflessness and being willing to serve and give,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “You see the new players getting introduced to Dwyane and UD and after about a month, you’ll have a different impression. They are as giving as any two players I’ve ever been around. They want, first of all, to make sure guys in the locker room feel comfortable. They’re not just thinking about themselves.”
It was one of the many times the two longest-tenured Heat players were at odds.
A few years ago, Wade simply tried to return Jeremy Lin’s shoe after he lost it during a game. Haslem felt it was necessary to interrupt the nice gesture by slapping it so hard from Wade’s hand they began arguing on the court.
Haslem took Wade’s kindness as a sign of weakness.
“If something happens, whether it’s on the basketball court or not,” says former Heat teammate Quentin Richardson of Haslem, “he’s not going to run looking for safety.” (Tim Fuller / USA TODAY Sports)
“He got real mad at me,” Haslem said. “So, yeah, we’ve gotten into it a lot. … People think that it’s always just fun. Me and Dwyane had uncomfortable conversations all the time. We’ve gotten into it during games and timeouts.”
What makes the Haslem-Wade pairing so special is their ability to coexist for so long. Their relationship is no different than a longtime married couple. They’ve dealt with the highs and lows but still managed to remain a unit.
“It was just more so in the moment,” Wade said. “I’m just trying to be nice and he slapped (the shoe) out of my hand. I’m like, ‘What the F?’ You can’t be teammates this long and you don’t get angry at each other. You go back and forth. We’ve had moments where people had to separate us. It’s a real relationship if you know that you can still be real with each other after.”
They have remained mostly on the same side during their careers. Few will forget when Haslem stuck up for Wade after he was leveled by then Indiana Pacers forward Tyler Hansbrough in the 2012 Eastern Conference semifinals. Later in the game, Haslem retaliated by sending Hansbrough to the floor with a hard foul that resulted in an ejection.
“That’s just UD,” said Quentin Richardson, who played with the Heat during the 2009-10 season. “If something happens, whether it’s on the basketball court or not, he’s not going to run looking for safety. Whatever happens to you is going to happen to him.”
Wade and Haslem have looked out for each other like relatives since developing an instant relationship while spending the entire summer together before their first season. The routine was the same each day. They worked out at AmericanAirlines Arena in the morning, returned to their hotel in Coconut Grove and then played pickup games at the Overtown Youth Center in the evenings.
Though basketball was the easy link, they also dealt with similar off-the-court issues. They both had children at young ages and grew up in homes where their mothers struggled with drug addiction. Jolinda Wade was a heroin addict and spent some time in jail while her son was developing into an NBA prospect outside of Chicago. Debra Haslem’s problems left her homeless at one point, causing her son to rely mainly on stepmother Barbara Wooten, now the head of his children’s foundation.
It took months before Haslem could discuss what he endured during the time leading up to his mother’s death. He finally confided in Wade, telling him he thought about removing her from life support weeks earlier but decided against it each time it surfaced.
“He needed to get it out and we talked about it,” Wade said. “He needed to talk about how hard it was for him and how it affected him.”
Their friendship actually strengthened when they were separated. It was a difficult decision for Wade to leave the Heat for the Chicago Bulls in 2016. Afterward, team president Pat Riley said Wade’s departure made for a “bad, bad summer.”
It was much worse for Wade and Haslem. The two had envisioned ending their careers with the same team. The move left the friends forced to communicate via text messages or phone calls. Gone were the postgame chats aside their lockers.
The only solace was Haslem regaining an interest to watch NBA games he wasn’t part of because it gave him an opportunity to keep tabs on Wade. The time apart eventually ended when Wade was traded back to Miami last February after playing 1 1/2 seasons in Chicago and Cleveland.
“I think ending his career in Miami was the only option,” Union said of Wade’s choice. “It was Miami or the couch. But UD and him going out together was the ideal situation. Miami is home. It’s where our kids are in school and our dream house is.”
Together again, they are now close enough to attend outings such as when their favorite NFL teams, the Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins, played Oct. 14. Haslem earned bragging rights after the Dolphins won 31-28 in overtime.
“We talked a little bit of junk back and forth,” Wade said. “Obviously, I wish my team would have won, but it was a win-win situation … to have a little fun with UD.”
Brendan Tobin, a radio host at 790 The Ticket, first thought of it as just a ploy to get Wade in a Heat uniform one final time. In August, before Wade made his return official, Tobin began campaigning for the city to change the street outside the Heat’s arena from Biscayne Boulevard to be
named after Wade.
After receiving a surplus of fan reaction, Tobin continued the push. He said Wade, widely considered the NBA’s No. 3 all-time shooting guard behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, is deserving because he is South Florida’s most cherished athlete. Tobin feels Wade is ahead of former Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, who has a street named after him near Hard Rock Stadium.
“Dwyane has been to the pinnacle,” Tobin said. “He is the reason for everything that has made us feel good about sports (in South Florida). If there is no Dwyane Wade, there is no Big Three. There’s no LeBron James down here. At one point, they were the biggest thing in sports, and that’s something Dan Marino was never able to do.”
The marketing push has already earned the attention of local government. Miami mayor Francis Suarez has begun the process, putting together a proposal saying the city supports the move. The legislation must be approved at the state level. According to Suarez, that could happen as early as December. He also said there are plans to award Wade the key to the city once it becomes official.
“He’s earned it,” Suarez said. “He’s become the Dan Marino of the Miami Heat. The city has changed drastically since he came. We went from sort of a small city with some high-rises to this metropolis that we have today. … Wade brought a global brand.”
In March, Wade also showed his compassion for the South Florida community when he was among the first local athletes to
visit Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The surprise appearance came three weeks after 17 students and faculty members were killed in a mass shooting on campus.
Philip Lewis
✔@Phil_Lewis_
Dwyane Wade stopped by Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School today. So dope
1:00 PM - Mar 7, 2018
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While there are no immediate plans of renaming anything after Haslem, he has had a similar impact. His has just been more at the local level, including his children’s foundation that has assisted underprivileged communities since 2005.
“They both have taken over the city in different ways,” Suarez said. “Udonis is a Miami product. He’s always here. He has deep roots. He can go into any neighborhood in the city and he’s always beloved. … I’ve gone to events with him and every kid knows him there because he’s a superstar in the county he grew up in.”
Some say Haslem, who played at Miami Senior High School and the University of Florida, may have had an even greater impact in the area than any player in franchise history. That says a lot of considering Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James and Alonzo Mourning are among the alumni. None, though, could ever stake claim to Haslem’s “Mr. 305” nickname.
“I would argue that UD means as much to that city,” Richardson said. “That community has seen the bigger superstars. UD said, ‘I’m from the community and I made it out of tough neighborhoods.’ Now he’s creating jobs. He has proven you can still be tough, you can still make it, you can still do it the right way, and never sacrificed his character. I respect that to the fullest.”
Haslem and his wife, Faith, have no plans of ever leaving Miami, but Wade is set to transition into a part-time resident once his career ends. He will split time between here and Los Angeles to help support his wife’s acting career.
“I will be back and forth, but this is always going to be home for me,” Wade said. “We’ve done a lot of work here in the community and a lot of work from a basketball standpoint. I will always be here.”
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Udonis Haslem
✔@ThisIsUD
Man this seems unreal. Thank you to
@Aventura_Mag for showing love to the hometown boy
#og http://bit.ly/AventuraMag
3:04 PM - Sep 29, 2018
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When Wade made
his “Last Dance” video, one of the players he cited was former teammate Caron Butler. Butler was one of the experienced players who told him as a rookie to cherish the NBA experience because it passes quickly. Now Butler is a taking advice from Wade.
They meet in South Florida once a year for dinner and a glass of wine to discuss business ventures. When Butler left Miami in 2004, the connection remained.
“He’s got a lot of things going on,” Butler said. “We just talk about different ideas.”
Said Wade, “A lot of guys reach out, they ask questions. I’m an open book for any player.”
The next step for Wade and Haslem is continuing their friendship in post-NBA life. They recently
opened a restaurant together in Aventura. There are plans for more business moves together, with Wade possibly joining Haslem in a recent partnership with Brightline, Florida’s mass-transit train system. In August, Haslem opened an Einstein Bros. Bagels at the Miami station.
Udonis Haslem
✔@ThisIsUD
Last night was special man. Thank you to everyone that came out to the VIP preview of me and my brother
@DwyaneWade's new venture
@800degrees Miami. Make sure to check it out on Thursday September 20th!
#bigthings #og #miami
12:57 PM - Sep 14, 2018
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Udonis Haslem
✔@ThisIsUD
Happy to be a part of the
@GoBrightline grand opening today
#Brightline305
4:44 PM - May 19, 2018
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Wade has even taken an interest in golf because he knows the greens are one of the best places to secure deals. Haslem says he will eventually catch up on the links because, well, Wade isn’t too far ahead.
“He golfs a lot, but he ain’t that good,” Haslem said. “We played together in China this summer and I realized and was like, ‘You’re not that good.’ So I do have a chance.”‘
Added Wade, “I’m improving, but I’ve got a long way to go. I’m two summers in. I enjoy going out and playing. It’s not a drag.”
Regardless of their successes after basketball, the two leave behind a legacy that has them in the discussion for most distinguished players in Heat history.
“I think when you talk about the Miami Heat franchise, of course, you’re going to talk about the mega-superstars in LeBron James and Shaquille O’Neal,” Butler said. “But when you talk about the roots and growth and longevity and all the Miami Heat organization embodies, it starts and ends with those two.”
cuz they were 1 game form losing to him 
