Source:
Matthew
Stockman
/
Getty
/
Udonis
Haslem
Miami
Heat’s
legendary
enforcer
Udonis
Haslem
shook
the
sports
table
with
comments
about
the
late
Boston
Celtics
legend
Bill
Russell.
Udonis
Haslem
has
never
been
one
to
bite
his
tongue
about
anyone
or
anything,
so
his
latest
comments
shouldn’t
come
as
a
surprise
to
anyone.
On
a
recent
episode
of
The
OG’s
podcast,
Haslem’s
former
teammate,
center
Bam
Adebayo,
shared
a
story
about
a
2022
pregame
speech
Haslem
gave
before
the
Heat
took
on
the
Celtics
where
he
expressed
his
full
disdain
for
his
Eastern
Conference
rival.
Per
NBC
Sports
Boston:
“We
playing
Boston,
so
you
know
his
feelings,”
Adebayo
said.
“So
we’re
in
the
huddle.
Cap
(Haslem)
come
in
there,
he
gave
his
pregame
speech,
and
you
know
they
retired
Bill
Russell’s
jersey
for
everybody
in
the
league.
So
they
got
6
in
our
rafters.
And
he
ends
his
pregame
speech
like,
‘F—
Bill
Russell,
too.’
I
said,
‘This
man
dead,
OG!”
Haslem
tried
to
explain
his
stance,
explaining
he
meant
no
disrespect,
noting
he
was
more
upset
about
the
fact
a
Russell’s
Boston
Celtics
jersey
was
hanging
in
the
Kaseya
Center’s
rafters,
an
honor
Haslam
says
will
never
be
given
to
a
Heat
player.
The
NBA
paid
respect
to
Russell
by
retiring
his
jersey
across
the
league
following
his
passing
in
July
2022.
LeBron
James
switched
his
number
from
6
to
23
to
honor
the
legendary
big
man.
“Tell
me
when
you’re
going
to
see
a
Miami
Heat
jersey
hanging
in
Boston,”
Haslem
said.
“I
had
to
repent
that,
I
love
Bill.
No
disrespect
to
Bill,”
Haslem
stated.
“He
just
caught
that
stray.
Respect
to
Bill
Russell.”
He
continued,
“The
s—
that
comes
out
of
people’s
mouths
to
us
when
we
playing
there
(in
Boston)?
I
might
not
take
back
what
I
said,
now
that
I
think
about
it.”
As
you
can
imagine,
the
NBA
X,
formerly
known
as
NBA
Twiter,
was
not
feeling
his
comments,
mainly
because
he
didn’t
have
the
same
smoke
for
Michael
Jordan’s
jersey
hanging
up
in
the
Kaseya
Center’s
rafters.
Boston
Celtic
all-star
Jaylen
Brown
liked
a
tweet
bringing
that
fact
up.
Interesting.
You
can
see
more
reactions
in
the
gallery
below.
—
Photo:
Matthew
Stockman
/
Getty