Miami Heat big man Bam Adebayo might understand where Udonis Haslem was coming from when his former teammate slandered legendary Boston Celtics big man Bill Russell, but that doesn’t mean he thinks it was wise. Speaking on a recent episode of Haslem and fellow Heat icon Mike Miller’s “The OGs” podcast, Adebayo said “It’s one of those things where we knew they were going to be upset.”
“We all respect Bill Russell for what he’s done for us as players and as Black people and all the stuff he had to go through,” he added. “Just to clear that air before people start talking about that, we all know we respect that man.”
“Listen, man. I got to apologize, it wasn’t about Bill,” said Haslem in conversation with Adebayo. “It was just about the rivalry and how I feel about the Celtics. But I will not take back my statement, you will never see a … jersey of a Miami Heat player hang in those (expletive) rafters.”
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Still, even with the mediocre mea culpa, the apologies rang shallow at best in many corners given Russell’s No. 6 was globally retired at least as much for what the man did for civil rights off the court as for the 11 titles he won on it.
And as others have noted, someone should point out that Michael Jordan’s jersey is hanging in the rafters of the Heat’s arena — another player that never suited up for Miami.
And that he should maybe try relaxing a bit in retirement.
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