Udonis Haslem Says Jimmy Butler Will Return to the Miami Heat Next Season

He also made a 'Little Giants' reference.

Udonis Haslem seems confident the Miami Heat will retain Jimmy Butler next season and said as much on 'First Take.' / ESPN / First Take

Udonis Haslem has made a career out of being a tough basketball player. Undrafted out of Florida, he played 20 years with the Miami Heat and became the embodiment of no-nonsense Heat Culture. For two decades if an opposing player - or teammate - stepped out of line, they had to deal with UD.

Finally retired, Haslem stayed with the Heat as the Vice President of Basketball Development and has branched out into media, most recently becoming a regular contributor to ESPN's Get Up and First Take. On both shows he projects an air of authority, like he did during his playing days, but on Friday morning he slipped up and made a pop culture reference that suggests he may have actually been a child at some point.

Udonis Haslem on the hiring of JJ Redick: "You've got your coach, but what about the roster? I don't think the Lakers have a championship roster. I mean, JJ could draw up the Annexation of Puerto Rico, it doesn't matter what he puts out there, they do not have a championship… pic.twitter.com/cGM1f8LRD2

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) June 21, 2024

"You've got your coach," said Haslem. "But what about the roster? I don't think the Lakers have a championship roster. I mean, JJ could draw up the Annexation of Puerto Rico, it doesn't matter what he puts out there, they do not have a championship roster."

Yes, that appears to be a Little Giants reference from UD. The 1994 family sports comedy film starring Rick Moranis and Ed O'Neill. Little Giants came out when Haslem was 14 so maybe he didn't actually see it until his own children were old enough to watch it, but he was a 90's kid, so who knows.

They really should have stopped the show right there to debate Spike vs. Icebox. Instead, they went on to discuss which team in the Eastern Conference would be the biggest threat to the Celtics next season and we got a Heat Culture PR release where he seemed to confirm that Jimmy Butler would be returning next season.

While he listed all the Heat's best players, their recent playoff success and complained that Miami wasn't sexy enough for the media, Molly Qerim pointed out that we don't know whether the team would have Jimmy Butler next season. Haslem said they would.

.@ThisIsUD says Miami will be the biggest threat to Boston next season 👀

Had to channel his inner @stephenasmith for this one 😭 pic.twitter.com/YPMn1GoTNA

— First Take (@FirstTake) June 21, 2024

"We do know we're going to have our best player," Haslem insisted. "You ain't heard us say he going nowhere. We just hear ya'll saying he going somewhere. Ain't no one else said he's going somewhere."

You heard it here first folks. This is why you have team executives on your debate shows.