?Fat Dude From Florida?: Drawing Parallels Between Pit Bull and 6 ft 7 NBA Veteran, Dwyane Wade Recalls Daunting Encounter

Dwyane Wade is one of the best players in the history of the Miami Heat. He immediately cemented himself as a Heat legend when he almost single-handedly led the team to its first-ever championship in 2006. But he did not stop there. He then helped the team win two more titles in 2012 and 2013 alongside superstars LeBron James and Chris Bosh. Despite his legendary career with the franchise, Wade still thinks another player has had the greatest career in Heat history.

And it’s not LeBron as well!

The Heat has become one of the best teams in the league after a few quiet seasons. They’ve made it to the Finals twice in the last three years. Even though they lost the ring on both occasions, the team is showing great consistency. Also, the Heat has the potential to challenge for the championship again with a few good additions.

Heat veteran receives major praise from Dwyane Wade

After the departure of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh, the Heat struggled massively. However, some things never changed in the franchise like the revered Heat Culture thanks to people like Erik Spoelstra, Pat Riley, and so forth. Another important name that helped sustain the culture is none other than Udonis Haslem.

During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, Wade had major praise for his former teammate. He stated Haslem has had the greatest career in the team’s history.

He also opened up about a lot of interesting details about the Heat veteran during the sitdown. In one instance, Wade recounted the time he first saw UD in Miami. The three-time NBA champion noted that on his first day with the Heat, he saw Haslem going hard during practice. It shocked Wade to see him fly for every loose ball and enquired who he was. But he was shocked to find out that it was Haslem.

Wade said, “I?ve never seen somebody play with that kind of intensity. So I asked somebody, ?Who is that dude?? And they said, ?Udonis Haslem.? And I was like, ‘The fat dude from Florida?!'”

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Udonis Haslem made history

The 13-time NBA All-Star said that he could not believe that it was Haslem because of his transformation. Playing for the Florida Gators, Haslem was a heavily built 6’7″ center. But he then lost a lot of weight and became an energetic power forward after going undrafted. Wade then compared Haslem’s tenacity to a pit bull.

He added, “Now I was seeing somebody who had transformed his body, he had braids, and he was just out there dog. It was like a pit bull.”

He also noted that Haslem and he spent a lot of time together working out and pushing each other during their initial months with the team.

After going undrafted in 2002, Udonis Haslem played in the French league for one year. He was then signed by the Heat in 2003 and has been a part of the team ever since. He recently became the oldest player ever to play in the Finals at 42.

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