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The story behind Haslem’s new wall by Heat locker room: ‘That wall is going to be here forever’

The hallway leading into the Miami Heat’s locker room is lined with championship memories. Important moments from each of the Heat’s three championships are plastered on the walls in the form of photographs to create what the team has deemed Championship Alley.

At the end of the hallway, there are double doors that lead into the Heat’s locker room. The 20-foot walk from those doors into the locker room now includes a wall honoring longtime Heat captain and forward Udonis Haslem, with the organization updating the entryway to the locker room while the team was away on its recently completed four-game trip.

“I’m not a guy that likes to reflect very much,” Haslem said to the Miami Herald ahead of Sunday’s matchup against the Hawks in Atlanta to begin another four-game trip. “I like to move forward. What’s next? What are we conquering? What’s the next challenge? But looking at that and going by it every day, I don’t know if they’re trying to make me cry. But it’s hard not to take a walk down memory lane walking by that wall.”

Among the various photos on the wall is one of Haslem’s face with blood dripping from his right eye after taking an elbow from Lou Amundson in Game 4 of a second-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers, and another of Haslem celebrating after hitting a game-winning shot over Antawn Jamison to lift the Heat to a two-point victory over the Washington Wizards in March 2007.

“I don’t reflect often, but it’s hard not to reflect on those times and those memories when you see that wall,” Haslem said. “So it literally just took me back in time to those shots. That shot against Washington and Antawn Jamison, getting hit in the eye against Indiana. It just takes me back to those moments.”

In the middle of the Haslem collage is a message on the wall that reads, “Forged in the fire between a hammer and anvil,” in big white letters. It’s a quote the Heat refers to when discussing its “culture,” pulling from the well-known quote of: “Character is not made of sunshine and roses. Like steel, it is forged in fire, between the hammer and the anvil”.

Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) speaks to his teammates before the first quarter of an NBA game against the Golden State Warriors at FTX Arena in Downtown Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem (40) speaks to his teammates before the first quarter of an NBA game against the Golden State Warriors at FTX Arena in Downtown Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, November 1, 2022.

Undrafted out of Florida in 2002, Haslem has become the face of the Heat’s “culture.” He has played a role on each of the organization’s three championship teams and is the only undrafted player in NBA history to lead a franchise in total rebounds.

“I think I’ve embodied this culture from the bottom to the top,” Haslem said. “I think everything that I’ve been able to accomplish on and off the basketball court has been because of Heat culture. I think not very many people are willing to commit the way you have to commit when you want to be a part of this culture.”

Haslem first discovered the wall when he arrived for the Heat’s home game against the Washington Wizards on Wednesday. He said he had “no idea” the team was planning to honor him in that way and that he even walked by it at first without noticing until a staff member pointed it out to him.

“Instantly, when I looked at it, I didn’t notice what I was looking at. Then I was like, ‘Oh, wow. All of these are pictures of me,’” Haslem said. “Then you start taking those walks down memory lane and remembering those moments. I was thinking I was a pretty decent player at one point, I was pretty good.”

Haslem, a Miami native, is on track to spend his entire NBA career of 20 seasons with the Heat before retiring at the end of this season. Haslem will join Dirk Nowitzki (21 seasons with Dallas Mavericks) and Kobe Bryant (20 seasons with Los Angeles Lakers) as the only players in league history to spend an entire NBA career lasting at least 20 seasons with one team, and Haslem is the the only one to do it in his hometown.

“I think about it, just like the guys like Alonzo [Mourning] and Grant Long and Glen Rice and Voshon Lenard, Tim Hardaway, Ike Austin, P.J. Brown. I’m probably naming names that a lot of people don’t know, but these are the guys I watched come before me. Even though they’re not on that wall, they embody Heat culture as well. I’ve just taken a piece of all those guys and I’ve put it into how it works for me in the modern day. Without those guys, I’m not here.”

The Heat switches out photos on some of the walls around the locker room every few years. But the plan is for the new Haslem wall to be a fixture moving forward.

With the 42-year-old Haslem set to retire at the end of this season, it’s not hard for him to imagine what it will feel like for him to walk past his wall when he’s not on the Heat’s roster anymore. His hope is that he’ll be a part of the Heat’s ownership group when that moment comes.

“It will be cool,” Haslem said. “Hopefully I’m up there in the office and I get to come down and have those conversations and talk about that with guys. But yeah, that wall is going to be here forever.”

INJURY REPORT

For Sunday’s game against the Hawks, Jimmy Butler (right knee soreness), Victor Oladipo (left knee tendinosis) and Omer Yurtseven (left ankle surgery) have already been ruled out.

Dewayne Dedmon (left foot plantar fasciitis), Duncan Robinson (left ankle sprain), Gabe Vincent (left knee effusion) and Nikola Jovic (right foot plantar dasciitis) are listed as questionable.

Tyler Herro (left ankle sprain), Max Strus (right shoulder impingement), Caleb Martin (non-COVID illness) and Jamal Cain (non-COVID illness) are probable.