Nearly 2 decade long NBA career, Miami Heat rebounding leader, and 3x NBA champ — fans know everything there is to Udonis Haslem’s professional life. Meanwhile, the former Heat star keeps his personal life mostly to himself.

It is quite common knowledge that Haslem got married to his college days’ love interest, Faith Rein. The former NBA star parented three kids with the sports broadcaster and podcaster. But, let’s have a closer look into the lives of Haslem’s kids and what has fatherhood been like for the 44-year-old.

Getting to know Udonis Haslem’s three sons

It is worth mentioning not all three of Haslem’s sons are biologically shared by him and his wife. In fact, he had his first and eldest son — Kedonis — with his high school girlfriend Keke James, when he was just 18. But, Faith has not been a mother to just her two sons with Haslem, but also to Kedonis.

“I had no idea what I was doing or where I was going. The one thing I did know is I wasn’t going to let u down. My motivation from the time u came into this world. Thanks for inspiring me not to settle. Not to give up and continue to grind,” Udonis wrote on Kedonis’ 17th birthday in 2015.

It’s clear he is really close to his children, but he does not impose his liking on his sons. Notably, Kedonis took an interest in football rather than following in his father’s footsteps. As for his other two sons, the eldest one he had with Faith is Josiah Haslem, and the younger one is named Elijah. While Josiah played baseball in his high school days, Elijah seemed to follow in his father’s footsteps early on. The X account of Independent Hoops shared a 2023 Peach State Evaluation Event note for Elijah.

“Elijah is an up-and-coming guard who is productive from deep… He has work to do as he becomes Known as a guy who can do damage from behind the arc. Teams will begin to run him off the line. And he will have to be comfortable putting the ball on the floor and getting to his spots. For now, he showed a lot of promise as a Knockdown shooter,” read the note. As for Josiah, he too displayed some decent performance through his 2023-24 baseball season for American Heritage High School.

Haslem believes in imparting perspective more than advice

Despite being into different sports, there is no doubt the 3x NBA champ could provide his sons with some of the best sports advice. And he has exactly done that by offering them advice on how to behave more than how to play. An individual’s approach toward the game takes him a long way, so Haslem focuses more on how his sons treat coaches, teammates, success, and failure.

As per an article by The Charlotte Observer, whenever Udonis Haslem attended one of his kids’ games, his focus would be on their body language. Although he rarely brings any interference during the game, there is one instance when he lost his cool. This goes back to the time his eldest son, Kedonis, was a sophomore at Dade Christian and he got taken out of a football game.

The way Kedonis threw his helmet in anger did not go well with Haslem, as he yelled at his son, not for the mistake in the game, but for his reaction to it. “I told him, ‘That’s not how we act. If you want to be mad, be mad. You want to be frustrated, be frustrated. But reserve that energy for the field. What you did is selfish. It’s not the way we do things and nobody wants to play with a teammate like that,'” UD said, as per the article. The ex-Heat star also mentioned that Kedonis never repeated something similar.

Udonis Haslem opens up more on the aspect of fatherhood

As mentioned earlier, the 3x NBA champ mostly keeps his personal life to himself, with little media exposure. However, there was one instance when the former Heat star did a two-part video titled Miami Heat – Udonis Haslem, family man with FOX Sports Sun’s Jason Jackson.

While the video included some aspects of his professional life, it was mostly about his bond with his sons. Jackson, however, did put up one interesting scenario before Haslem, where he had to choose between having 3 NBA championships, being a great dad, and becoming the All-Time Rebounding Leader of the Heat. Without a second thought, the former NBA star chose to be a great dad on the number one spot.

Meanwhile, winning 3 NBA championships and becoming the rebounding leader followed the next stops in the same order. During the video, UD also revealed he stays active for a greater cause and keeps his sons involved in works related to the community, so what runs in his DNA continues with his kids as well.

After knowing everything so far about various aspects of fatherhood, what do you think is the hardest part and the best part of being a parent? Well, according to Haslem, the hardest part is discipline, as you have to know when to stay on them, keep pushing them, and when to give them a break from it. Meanwhile, “enjoying their success” is the best aspect of being a parent. And it’s clear from our understanding so far, that the 3x NBA champ has been doing both parts with great efficiency.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.