“Bro this man dead!” Bam Adebayo discloses his BOLD reaction over Udonis Haslem’s ‘F**k Bill  Russell’ rant

Udonis Haslem did not mean any disrespect to Bill Russell.

“Bro this man dead!” Bam Adebayo discloses his BOLD reaction over Udonis Haslem’s ‘F**k Bill  Russell’ rant

Bam Adebayo had his say on Udonis Haslem's 'f**k Bill Russell' comment. (Image via Essentially Sports)

Former Miami Heat captain Udonis Haslem had been heavily trolled when he reacted the way he did, to Bill Russell’s jersey ceremony. The Celtics legend had his jersey posthumously retired across the NBA in August 2022. However, Haslem, now the Heat’s Vice president of basketball development, was not happy with having his players lining up below a rafter with a Celtics jersey.

He ended his pre-game speech with a now-iconic ‘F**k Bill Russell,’ a comment the former player himself claimed he grew to regret a lot. Bam Adebayo, who joined the Heat as a youngster and is now recognized as one of the best Centers around, revealed in a recent OGs podcast episode that he was stunned.

Adebayo had a hilarious reaction, and ended up calling him an ‘OG’:

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We playing Boston. So you know his feel on that. They retired Bill Russell’s jersey for everybody in the league. So they got 6 in our rafters and he end his pre-game speech like, ‘F**k Bill Russell too’. I said, ‘Bro this man dead OG,'

Of course, Haslem eventually revealed that he was only concerned with the fact that the Heat players had to line up a Celtics’ jersey, which was why he had made the comment in the first place.

Udonis Haslem himself regretted the ‘f**k Bill Russell’ comment

A part of the community had responded quite harshly to Haslem’s comment. Russell is often recognized as a pillar of black rights especially with respect to the NBA, and an obvious reason why the likes of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and even Haslem himself were able to succeed in the league.

However, the Heat legend explained that he loved and respected Bill Russell, but knew that a Heat jersey would never hang in the Celtics’ rafters:

Will you ever see a Miami Heat jersey hanging in Boston’s rafters? Respect Bill Russell. Love him. Why the f**k he gotta hang in here? The s**t that come out them people mouth to us when we playing there? I might not take back what I said. Now that I think about it the way they the s**t that they” say to us?
Bill Russell was a pioneer in his own rights. (Image via Sports Illustrated)

Hence, however, might the media construe what he said, Haslem was actually pretty single-minded with his speech. He wanted his team to give their best against one of their biggest rivals, and was irked by the fact they had to play below a Boston Celtics jersey.

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