Hyde: Haslem goes out in a raw style all his own | Commentary

Lou Gehrig got his farewell speech. Cal Ripken got his career victory lap around Camden Yards. Kobe Bryant got his iconic 60 points.

Udonis Haslem drew a charge, made two shots, got two technical fouls and waved a finger in the face of Philadelphia center Dwight Howard face while repeating, “I’m gonna hit you in the f—– mouth. I’m gonna hit you in the f——-mouth.”

All in three minutes.

His only minutes of the season.

Haslem was ejected, of course, and left to a standing ovation for the ages.

“What a way to go out,” said his one-time teammate, Shaquille O’Neal, on the TNT halftime show. “What a way to go out.”

That is a career wrap, right? That’s the kind of raw-and-real ending you couldn’t script – that only could happen in the way it came to Haslem.

The Heat wanted to send a message Thursday night in some form to a young and unproven Philadelphia team in case they meet in the playoffs. Who’s tougher? Who’s more iron-willed?

So they went out and beat them up on the scoreboard, taking a quick lead and the stretching it to a healthy double-digits in the first quarter. Then Haslem entered for The Treatment.

One of the sub-plots to the end of this season was when coach Erik Spoelstra would find a spare minute to get Haslem in a game so he’d be vested for another season. Well, here it was. When he entered with 59 seconds left in the first quarter, he got a standing ovation.

Fans stood. Team owner Micky Arison and Heat President Pat Riley. Everyone stood and cheered for the undrafted guy who came into camp with Dwyane Wade in 2003 and carved himself more than a career.

In some manner, he defined the toughness the Heat liked to project. It wasn’t just being part of three championship teams. It was the part he played – some big shots, some strong rebound and, yeah, some muscle in the corners.

Remember when he said Boston’s mock-tough-guy Kevin Garnett, “wouldn’t throw rice at a wedding?” When he faced off with Indiana’s David West in 2011?

His defining moment came in the 2012 playoffs when Indiana’s Tyler Hansbrough committed a strong foul on Wade. When Hasbrough drove next time, Haslem sent him to he floor. Haslem’s eye got bruised, his face bloodied in the aftermath. But so what?

Wade got on the team plane afterwards, gave him the team ball in front of everyone and said, “For my brother. For his sacrifice. I don’t think we win the series without him.”

Every great team has a player like Haslem, and every other team wonders what exactly he does. Well, that’s not true. Few teams have players like Haslem – a 15th man who didn’t play. He’s 41, the NBA’s oldest player. He played four games last year, one this year. This wonderful one.

It became a Haslem moment, real and raw. First, he was knocked to the floor in a positioning battle under the basket with Howard. Judges would rule it a partial slip. But, no matter.

When Haslem gave a hard foul to a driving Shake Milton, he and Howard had some words. Haslem had more words than Howard, it seemed.

The word and the attitude don’t matter unless there’s the Heat’s game backing them all up. But squeeze it all together and maybe you see why no one really wants to face the Heat in a playoff series.

Or maybe you just see why Haslem got the standing ovation as he left the court. Fans and the Heat bench stood and cheered. Pat Riley stood motionless, pandemic mask on so as not to read his face. Shock? Awe? Both?

Kobe got 60 his final night. Ripken ran around Camden Yards slapping fans’ hands his final night. Haslem got three minutes of raw realism and walked off the court and up the tunnel.