Udonis Haslem responds to Jayson Tatum’s shooting in Miami originally appeared in NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum couldn’t turn down the opportunity to troll the Miami Heat before the Boston Celtics Championship Parade on Friday. Predictably, his comment didn’t sit well with longtime Heat big man Udonis Haslem.
Tatum and the C’s celebrated the NBA title in Miami, where they’ve spent a lot of time the past three years. Boston and Miami have faced each other in three consecutive postseason series, with the Celtics winning two of them, including this year’s first-round meeting.
NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine asked Tatum about going to Miami and the team’s history there, and the C’s star just couldn’t resist.
“You guys took a lot of trips to Miami,” Scalabrine said. “Lots of difficult trips to Miami. Was this a little more pleasant taking that trip?”
“They’re always easy,” Tatum responded.
Haslem, who played for the Heat from 2003-23 and currently serves as the team’s vice president of basketball development, responded to Tatum’s jab on the ESPN show Sports center.
“I think he’s still drunk from the party,” Haslem said. “He must still be drunk from the party, there’s no way he can believe that. It’s okay, is what he should say. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics. I won’t be a hater, we understand that they are the champions. Let’s get completely healthy and then we’ll see what happens.”
Tatum is 8-4 at Miami in his playoff career, including a win in Game 7 of the 2022 Eastern Conference Finals and a 2-0 record in the 2024 first round. The Celtics are 7-1 in their last eight games away against the Heat.
Still, Haslem believes Miami will be Boston’s biggest threat in the Eastern Conference next season. He argued at the end of the day on the ESPN program First take.
“I’m tired of this,” he said. “Duncan Robinson, Terry Rozier, Jimmy Butler, a young superstar in Bam Adebayo, a young superstar in Tyler Herro, Jaime Jaquez Jr., (Nikola) Jovic. Why doesn’t anyone ever say Miami Heat? The last four or five years, everything it came down to the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics. Milwaukee got there, but it ended up with the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics. And we have La Spoelstra Nostra (coach Erik Spoelstra).
“So I’m sitting here asking, why doesn’t anyone ever say the Miami Heat? A healthy Miami Heat is the team that can challenge Boston, because we have done so the last four of five years. this, man. This has to stop.
Miami’s success next season could depend on Jimmy Butler, who has recently been the subject of trade rumors. Haslem seems convinced that Butler isn’t going anywhere.
“No, we know we’re going to have our best player,” he added when Butler’s uncertain future was mentioned. “You didn’t hear us say he’s going anywhere, we just heard you say he’s going somewhere. None of us are saying he’s going anywhere.”
Butler missed the entire first-round series against Boston with an MCL injury. In 2023, he powered the Heat to victory over the C’s in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see these rivals face off again in next year’s postseason. If they do, you can count on Tatum’s pre-show provocation being used as bulletin board fodder.
