Heat’s Udonis Haslem on his future and why he’s not a fan of the play-in tournament

Udonis Haslem is in his 18th NBA season, but it won’t officially be that until he plays in a game.

With less than two weeks remaining in the regular season, Haslem entered Tuesday’s matchup against the Dallas Mavericks at AmericanAirlines Arena still waiting to make his season debut.

“I haven’t thought about it,” said Haslem, who turns 41 on June 9 and is currently the oldest active player in the NBA. “But I’m sure [coach Erik Spoelstra] and our guys keep those things close to hand and understand the importance of that. But for me, if we don’t win the Detroit [regular-season finale] and I got in, it really wouldn’t matter. My thing is, let’s win out this season, let’s get this best playoff spot we can possibly get and let’s go in here and try to get it done.

“But I’m sure Spo will figure out a way to get me in there for five seconds and I’ll grab 10 rebounds.”

The franchise’s all-time leading rebounder has played less of an on-court role and more of a leadership role in recent seasons, and that trend has continued. Haslem is the only player on the Heat’s roster who has yet to play this season.

Haslem, who has spent his entire NBA career with the Heat, will become the oldest player to appear in a game for Miami in franchise history the next time he steps on the court.

And Haslem, who signed a one-year, $2.6 million veteran minimum contract with the Heat this past offseason, could be back for a 19th season. He’s still undecided on when retirement will come.

“Man, I just take it one day at a time. We’ll figure it out,” Haslem said. “The goal now is to win a championship and then we’ll go from there. I can’t really think past today. I’ve been told just to take it one day at a time and when I get to the summer, that’s when I think about that. So that’s the advice I’m going to take from a wise man.”

Besides winning a championship, Haslem’s other goal is to avoid the NBA’s play-in tournament. The Heat is in sixth place in the Eastern Conference standings, with the play-in tournament including the teams with the seventh-highest through the 10th-highest winning percentages in each conference.

Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James recently said of the play-in idea, “Whoever came up with that [expletive] needs to be fired,” as the Lakers battle to avoid the tourney held between the end of the regular season and the start of the playoffs.

“I don’t want to be in it,” Haslem said. “I don’t want that to be a part of our situation going into the next phase of the season. I’m hoping we don’t have to end up in that situation. And I do think it’s a little silly. I don’t know who came up with it. I’m not an analytical guy. I’m sure they bring all kinds of numbers and all kinds of stats that say this is the best way to do it with this, that and the third and all kinds of data. And I’ll be like, ‘Oh, OK.’ But that doesn’t matter to me.

“I think it is taking a step back, especially after the bubble and just the shortened offseason. To put teams in a position to have to be in a play-in, especially guys like ourselves and the Lakers, who basically slugged it out until the end. To be here in this situation saying we might have to be in a play-in, it’s a little unfortunate. But we’re not the type of team that’s going to whine about it. Whatever you want to do, put it in front of us and we’ll figure it out.”

BAM’S STATEMENT

The Heat has been promoting center Bam Adebayo for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award, and Adebayo believes he deserves serious consideration for the honor.

“I feel it’s one of those things where you’ve got to watch us play to figure it out.” Adebayo said following Sunday’s win over the Charlotte Hornets. “I’ve flown under the radar because I’m not a big name in this NBA. But show my work, somebody will look at me and will say, ‘OK, he’s the Defensive Player of the Year and here are the reasons why.’ That’s the bottom line. I feel like I am.”

The Heat began a social media campaign last month for Adebayo to be considered for the award with the hashtag, #BAMDPOY.

Adebayo, 23, is expected to receive consideration for the honor as the centerpiece of a Heat defense that entered Tuesday with the league’s eighth-best defensive rating. On NBA.com’s latest “Defensive Player Ladder” released last week, Adebayo ranked third behind only No. 1 Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers and No. 2 Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz.

Adebayo is one of 11 NBA players averaging at least one steal and one block this season. He’s known on the defensive end for his unique versatility and ability to effectively switch onto every position on the court at 6-9 and 255 pounds.

The lone Heat player in franchise history who has been named the Defensive Player of the Year is Alonzo Mourning, who earned the award twice in the 1998-99 and 1999-00 seasons. Sportswriters and broadcasters vote on the honor.