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Is Relying on Udonis Haslem a Good or Bad Thing for the Miami Heat?

Miami Heat veteran Udonis Haslem sparked the team with a halftime speech in Game 2 but is it a good sign?
Is Relying on Udonis Haslem a Good or Bad Thing for the Miami Heat?
Is Relying on Udonis Haslem a Good or Bad Thing for the Miami Heat?

Miami Heat forward Udonis Haslem is one of the most important players in franchise history.

His name is all over the team record books. He is likely the next to have his Heat jersey retired.

On Friday, he was seen addressing the players during timeouts when the Heat were trailing the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.

As Heat forward Jimmy Butler, the team should not need Haslem for motivation.

"I think we've got to do it from the jump," Butler said. "It shouldn't take him telling us to do that. But I like the way we responded to it. We've got guys, you tell them what it is, they normally respond. Maybe he should start the game off cussing people out."

Haslem told the team it has play harder from the start. At this stage, the Heat should be already in that mode.

"UD's been there numerous times," forward Kelly Olynyk said. "He knows what it takes. We look up to somebody like that. He's our guy on our team that gets us going and keeps us on the right path."

With Game 3 Sunday in Orlando, hopefully the Heat are engaged from the start.

"We're playing on a big stage right now, the last two teams in the NBA playing," rookie guard Tyler Herro said. "Our backs are against the wall. We have to give everything that we have. We need to empty our tanks out there and live with the results. We can give more. We can play harder. "

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star. TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here