After acquiring LeBron James and Chris Bosh and pairing them with Dwyane Wade, the Heat had a core group that was expected to win multiple championships. However, signing that trio was costly and forced the team to cut corners when building the rest of the roster. But when they considered letting Udonis Haslem go, their superstar trio sacrificed money to keep him in Miami.
The forward was blown away by their gesture and knew the only way he could repay them was to help them win titles. During an appearance on the Pat Bev podcast, the Heat icon revealed that he promised James that he would spare no effort to make sure their sacrifice was worth it. Haslem said:
“When Bron came to town, I let him know straight up: “First and foremost, you guys took a pay cut for me, I’m going to make sure you get your money’s worth.”
James, Wade and Bosh signed six-year deals with the Heat, but took nearly $15 million less than they were entitled to in order to ensure the team could retain key players like Haslem. He also noted that they made that sacrifice without knowing much about him. The forward revealed:
“We didn’t really spend a lot of time together off the pitch, but on the pitch we already knew what it was like. But we just had two different lifestyles, it’s like comparing apples and oranges.”
Haslem was not only impressed by James’ generosity, but also by his impeccable work ethic, which he had the privilege of observing up close.
Haslem, “in the front row” of LeBron
The forward spoke about James’ supernatural training regimen, which began nearly three hours before the team’s practice. Haslem said:
“If practice starts at 10 o’clock, Bron has already arrived at that practice at 7:30… he’s already been in the weight room, he’s had his injections, by the time you get to the gym, if it’s a 10 o’clock practice, you get there around 8:30, that guy’s been in the gym for about an hour and a half, two hours, now he’s getting his medication, he’s just getting ready to start practice.”
The four-time MVP has always had the same drive to be the best that Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant had, who were equally obsessed with outdoing their teammates and every other player in the league. It is this unmatched commitment that has allowed him to forge a career unlike any other in NBA history.
