ATLANTA — The reality is that there now, officially, is no turning back: Udonis Haslem is formally prohibited from playing another game with the Miami Heat.
Again practicing with the Heat, this time Friday at the Atlanta Hawks’ practice facility, Haslem said he was unaware that by joining the Heat’s front office and taking a team salary for that position, he no longer can circle back from the retirement he had made official this summer after 20 seasons with the Heat.
“But that’s fine,” he said, sweat still dripping, as he changed out of his workout gear alongside Heat center Bam Adebayo. “I didn’t know that. But I don’t miss it. I wasn’t planning on that. I’m fine with that.”
While banned in perpetuity from a Heat return, Haslem could return in another team’s colors. Told of that opening remaining, he smiled a 43-year-old smile of someone who knows he has moved well past the finish line.
So, instead, he is practicing as a way of remaining a presence in the locker room he had captained for nearly two decades, working alongside Heat big men such as Orlando Robinson and Thomas Bryant.
“I think Orlando and Thomas and these guys got it. I’m fine and I don’t miss it at all,” the Southwest Ranches resident said. “I love the impact that I’m able to have, still got a connection with the locker room and organization. But this is enough for me.”
Friday was the first time Haslem took questions about his new Heat role, on Tuesday named to the newly created team role of vice president of basketball development.
“Trying to figure out what the role would look like, I want to make sure I maximize my talents as a person, and I want to make sure I give the most I can to the organization,” he said of the hybrid role that will include work with the players, coaching staff, front office and business side. “I don’t want to be just put in one position. I want to be able to move around a little bit and help everywhere I can.”
The preference would have been an ownership stake. Instead, the work will come with owner Micky Arison, CEO Nick Arison and Heat President Pat Riley, among others.
“I want to understand how the business part works,” Haslem said, “and sitting down at the table with Micky, Pat and Nick and those guys and just understanding how the organization that I’ve been working for for 20 years, how it works and how it runs and how I can be a part of that moving forward, as well.”
In addition, Haslem plans to remain involved in broadcasting in Atlanta because of his NBA TV work on Thursday night for Turner Sports.
He said he does not see the dual roles as a conflict.
“I love watching basketball and talking basketball all day,” he said. “It’s hard to watch a game at home because I start critiquing and complaining. So now I can get paid to critique and complain.”
Three back
With Tyler Herro sidelined with the ankle sprain that will have him out at least two weeks, and with Saturday night’s game in Atlanta opening a back-to-back set that concludes Sunday in San Antonio, the Heat called in three reinforcements.
Traveling up from Miami were Nikola Jovic and Jamal Cain, who had been sidelined by illness. The Heat also recalled Cole Swider from their G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, ahead of the Skyforce’s Saturday season opener.
Swider and Cain are on two-way contracts. The other players on the Heat two-way deal, guard R.J. Hampton, remains with the Skyforce.
Of the quick turnaround for Swider, who headed to South Dakota earlier this week, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said Friday it all is part of life on a two-way contract.
“It’s pretty obvious,” Spoelstra said of Swider’s recall. “There’s minutes that are needed. I don’t know whether he’ll play, but we do need another body just in case – foul trouble or different things.
“He was able to get a good five-on five practice (in Sioux Falls), which was the positive out of this. And it’s also welcome to the reality of being a two-way. But there’s a lot of that. Whatever the plan may be, it’s pencil, but not pen.”
Injury report
Beyond Herro, the Heat’s injury report lists Caleb Martin (knee) as out and Jimmy Butler (knee) as probable. In addition, Hampton is on his G League assignment. Cain and Jovic are back after missing time due to illness.
