Udonis Haslem reacts to Jayson Tatum’s shot in Miami originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
Jayson Tatum couldn’t pass up 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 their NBA title in Miami, where they have spent a lot of time over the past three years. Boston and Miami have faced off 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 superstar just couldn’t resist.
“You’ve made a lot of trips to Miami,” Scalabrine said. “Lots of hard-fought trips to Miami. Was this a little more fun to be on that journey?’
“They’re always easy,” Tatum replied.
Haslem, who played for the Heat from 2003 to 2023 and is currently the team’s vice president of basketball development, responded to Tatum’s comment on ESPN’s Sports Center.
“I think he’s still drunk from the party,” Haslem said. ‘He must still be tipsy from the party, he can’t possibly believe that. It’s okay, that’s what he should say. Congratulations to the Boston Celtics. I won’t be a hater, we understand they are the champions. We’re going to get completely healthy again, and then we’ll see what happens.”
Tatum is 8-4 in Miami in his playoff career, including a Game 7 Eastern Conference Finals win in 2022 and a 2-0 record in the 2024 first round. The Celtics are 7-1 in their last eight playoff games games against the Heat.
Still, Haslem believes Miami will be Boston’s biggest threat in the Eastern Conference next season. He made the argument later in the day on ESPN’s First recording.
“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 the Miami Heat? The last four or five years it came down to the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics sneaking themselves in there, but it came down to the Miami Heat or the Boston Celtics And we have La Spoelstra Nostra (coach Erik Spoelstra).
“So I sit here and ask, why doesn’t anyone ever say the Miami Heat? A healthy Miami Heat is the team that can challenge Boston, because we’ve done it the last four out of five years. I’m sick of this, man. This has to be fuses.
Miami’s success next season could depend on Jimmy Butler, who has recently been the subject of trade rumors. Haslem seems convinced Butler isn’t going anywhere.
“No, we do know we will have our best player,” he added when Butler’s uncertain future was discussed. “You didn’t hear us say he’s not 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 vs. Boston due to an MCL injury. In 2023, he propelled the Heat to victory over the C’s in the Eastern Conference Finals.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see these legendary rivals play each other again next year. If they do, you can count on Tatum’s pre-parade taunt to be used as message board material.
