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Florida basketball: 10 best NBA careers in Gators history

By Josh Yourish

Mar 9, 2007; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida Gators guard Taurean Green (11), forward Al Horford (42) and forward Joakim Noah wait between plays against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half of a quarterfinal round SEC Tournament game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Floirda won 74-57. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Jason Parkhurst
Mar 9, 2007; Atlanta, GA, USA; Florida Gators guard Taurean Green (11), forward Al Horford (42) and forward Joakim Noah wait between plays against the Georgia Bulldogs during the second half of a quarterfinal round SEC Tournament game at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, GA. Floirda won 74-57. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-USA TODAY Sports Copyright © 2007 Jason Parkhurst /
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Jun 17 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem (40) dunks the ball past Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Nick Collison (4) during the second half of game three in the 2012 NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena. The Heat defeated the Thunder 91-85. Mandatory Credit: Lynne Sladky/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports
Jun 17 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat power forward Udonis Haslem (40) dunks the ball past Oklahoma City Thunder power forward Nick Collison (4) during the second half of game three in the 2012 NBA Finals at the American Airlines Arena. The Heat defeated the Thunder 91-85. Mandatory Credit: Lynne Sladky/Pool Photo via USA TODAY Sports /

No. 6 best Florida basketball NBA career: Udonis Haslem

  • Drafted: Undrafted
  • NBA career games: 879
  • NBA PPG: 7.5
  • 3x NBA Champion

Haslem is the antithesis of White Chocolate. There is nothing flashy about his game, but he is the ultimate winning player. Haslem went undrafted as an undersized center after being All-SEC three times at Florida.

Eventually, Haslem latched on with the Miami Heat and Pat Riley loved his tenacity. Riley continues to run Miami and never let Haslem go. After his 20th season in Miami, at the age of 43, Haslem finally retired from the NBA in the summer of 2023.

Haslem played a prominent role in the 2006 Heat championship run and averaged nearly 10 points a game that year. Later in his career, Lebron James and Chris Bosh teamed up with Dwayne Wade in Miami and Haslem provided that team a much-needed physicality and toughness. He averaged just under four points a game in those championship seasons.

At no point did Haslem ever care about stats or playing time, he did anything to help his team win and over his 20 years, Miami did plenty of winning.

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