Mr. 305
There are hometown heroes and then there is Udonis Haslem.
To understand Haslem, you must first understand where he came from. In June of 1980, he was born in a hospital seven miles from the Heat’s AmericanAirlines Arena. He grew up in the heart of Miami in an area called Liberty City, widely considered the most crime-ridden and bloodiest six square miles inside Miami’s city limits. That’s where Haslem was raised, where he was hardened.
After a brief stint up the road in Jacksonville, Fla., he moved back to South Florida to attend Miami Senior high school, a basketball powerhouse with a national reputation. That’s where he played for Martin and won two state titles in 1997 and 1998 alongside Los Angeles Lakers point guard Steve Blake. Martin speaks of Haslem like Haslem was his son.
“I don’t think there’s another professional athlete in the last 10 years that has done more for his community than Udonis has done for Miami,” Martin said. “I’m not where I am today unless he plays for me.”
It was at Miami Senior where the seeds of Haslem’s hard loyalty and relentlessness were planted.
“You can ask him, his high school practices were hard,” Martin said. “That’s the only way I knew him. Udonis, Sylbrin Robinson, Antonio Latimer and Brent Wright -- those four teammates basically didn’t do anything without the three others around. They created a brotherhood, a friendship that is unbelievable and lasts to this day. If you ask them, the meanest fights they’ve ever been in were amongst themselves.”
Heavily recruited out of high school, Haslem went to the University of Florida to follow Wright, his closest pal. After four years at Florida, Haslem left as the winningest player in the school’s history, earning a trip to the NCAA championship and a spot on the All-America squad.
In 2003, the Miami Heat offered him a training camp invite and Haslem hasn't left Miami since.
He has legitimate hopes to be the mayor of Miami one day. An enormous tattoo of the state of Florida extends from Haslem’s shoulder blades down to his belt line. If you don't know Miami’s area code, just go to a Heat game and you’ll hear the fans call him by his nickname: “Mr. 305.”
Read more @
http://espn.go.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/15951/udonis-haslem-a-rebounding-story
