"I'm sure the a*alytics, a*aholycs, or whatever..." - Udonis Haslem fires back at ESPN for downplaying Miami Heat
Udonis Haslem is pulling the receipts after the Miami Heat's Game 7 win over the Boston Celtics. Heading into the series, analysts were giving the team just a 3% chance of defeating the Celtics in a seven-game series.
Although the Celtics were able to force a Game 7, the team wound up falling short of making NBA history. After rattling off three impressive wins, the team suffered a lopsided loss on their home court at the TD Garden to spell the end of their season.
With the Miami Heat now headed to the finals, Udonis Haslem hasn't forgotten the predictions from the so-called experts. Following the game, the Heat veteran appeared on the Dan LeBatard show where he spoke about defying the odds:
"I'm sure the a**alytics or a**aholycs or whatever they call it, probably had us not beating Milwaukee either in the first round. I'm sure the a**alytics probably didn't have me sitting here with three rings and the leading rebounder in Heat history. I don't listen to assalytics."
As the Miami Heat have made clear, the job isn't finished quite yet and their sights are still set on capturing an NBA championship.
Looking at Udonis Haslem and the Miami Heat's improbable run this postseason
This year has been quite the Cinderella story for Udonis Haslem and the Miami Heat. After finding themselves in the play-in tournament, the team was nearly eliminated by the Chicago Bulls before even reaching the playoffs.
After an impressive late-game comeback against the Bulls, the team entered the playoffs as the eighth seed, matching up with the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. While many didn't give them a chance of taking out the former NBA champs, the Heat rose to the occasion and picked up an unlikely win.
In the second round, the team squared off with Tom Thibodeau's New York Knicks, a familiar face for Heat star Jimmy Butler, who played under Thibodeau in Chicago. Again, the Heat rose to the occasion, beating the fifth-seed Knicks to punch their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals.
(Suggested Reading: "I am Heat culture" - Udonis Haslem)
The team shocked the world as they went up 3-0 against the Celtics, putting quite a bit of pressure on themselves to close things out as many began predicting a sweep. Although the Celtics put forth an admirable effort in attempting to come back from down 3-0, Udonis Haslem's Heat were able to close things out in Game 7.
Although Udonis Haslem doesn't check in to games very often, the veteran wasn't too pleased to hear the NBA on TNT crew make jokes about his role on the team. During an interview with Andscape he spoke about the situation, saying:
"I read. I hear all the comments, and even some of my peers, every now and then they got jokes to crack. But I bust their a** too. Some of the guys that sit up in there behind them suits at TNT, and they got jokes; I would tear their a** up. I ain’t up here smoking cigarettes and eating chicken. I’m getting work done, man."
With the Heat back in the NBA Finals, Haslem could have a chance to capture another NBA ring.