Shaquille O’Neal has been a part of the Miami Heat franchise for four seasons and has delivered the team’s first NBA championship since its inception in 1988. Engulfed in the team’s culture that was built by Pat Riley, there is one thing that the 15-time NBA All-Star didn’t like, and that is hanging jerseys of players who were not part of Miami’s history.
Up in the rafters of the Kaseya Center, basketball spectators can see the jersey of Michael Jordan with half of the Chicago Bulls and the other with the Washington Wizards. Aside from that, Bill Russell’s #6 jersey has been retired throughout the entire NBA.
This concept of hanging Jordan’s jersey in a Miami Heat homecourt and Russell’s league-wide jersey retirement is something that didn’t sit well with Shaquille O’Neal, which he echoed from what Udonis Haslem stated before as well.
“I hate the fact that they hang up other people’s jerseys,” said O’Neal said in the Big Podcast. “This thing of ours. This is what we built. Michael Jordan ain’t never play for the Heat. Bill Russell ain’t never play for the Heat.”
Udonis Haslem has played for the Miami Heat for 20 years, and his name has become a household name in Florida with his loyalty to the franchise. His jersey is about to be retired in January, along with those of Heat legends Alonzo Mourning, Tim Hardaway, Shaquille O’Neal, and Dwyane Wade.
But as his name gets immortalized by the Heat, he finds it funny that he also joins Bill Russell, who has not played a single game with Miami.
Happily retired and just doing podcasts with Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem vented out that he respects Russell but does not agree with retiring his number for the Heat franchise.
“Tell me when you are going to see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in Boston. I had to repent that,” said Udonis Haslem. “I love Bill. No disrespect to Bill. He just caught that stray… Respect Bill Russell. I love him. Why the f*** he got to hang in here?
The jersey number six has been retired by all teams in the NBA since Russell’s death in July 2022. The jersey number has also been worn by LeBron James during his tenure with the Heat and helped deliver two championships and four straight NBA Finals appearances.
