Udonis Haslem is still not backing down at 42 years old.
Retired former Boston Celtics greats Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett made some unflattering comments this week about the Miami Heat on an episode of Garnett’s podcast. Amid a bumpy 2-4 start to the year for Miami, Garnett called out the Heat for supposedly having “no identity.” Pierce took it a step further, saying of the Heat that “their [championship] window is closing.”
You can read the full comments of the ex-Celtics duo here (via Heat Nation).
In response, Haslem rolled up his sleeves and went in on his two old rivals.
“No matter what you say, it won’t change that a– whooping y’all took back in the day!!!” Haslem wrote on Instagram over a screenshot of Garnett and Pierce’s remarks (profanity edited by LBS). “I know a lot about windows closing cause we slammed y’all s–t and locked y’all suckas out forever ever!!! #L7 #6gamesinyallalreadyhating.”
Haslem, who is in his 20th consecutive season with the Heat, battled against Garnett, Pierce, and the rest of the Celtics in the playoffs in 2010, 2011, and 2012. While Boston won the first battle, Miami got the next two, effectively crumbling that era of Celtics basketball. Boston never made it past the first round in the Garnett-Pierce era again, and both players were finally traded to Brooklyn in 2013.
As for this season, it is probably too early to be making bold proclamations about any NBA team, especially since we are still in October. But Haslem has never taken disrespect toward the Heat before, and he is not about to start now.
