Monday’s Heat ‘Red, White & Pink’ scrimmage is personal for Udonis Haslem

The Miami Heat’s annual “Red, White & Pink Game” intrasquad scrimmage usually provides the first public glimpse at the roster ahead of the preseason. But the significance of the event extends beyond the basketball court.

With the Heat set to hold this year’s “Red, White & Pink Game” on Monday at 6 p.m. at Kaseya Center, proceeds from the scrimmage benefit cancer care and research at Baptist Health Miami Cancer Institute. Cancer patients and survivors will be honored throughout the night.

“It’s encouraging just to see the survivors,” Heat icon Udonis Haslem said. “When you’ve dealt with so many losses and people in your family close to you facing that disease, it can be discouraging. So to see the people come together and to see the people who have won the battle against cancer and see the people who have survived and see the people who are here and their families come together, it just continues to give you encouragement.”

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For Haslem, the night is personal after losing his father, mother and stepmother to cancer.

Haslem’s father, Johnnie Haslem, died in August 2021 after a battle with colon cancer and myeloma (a cancer that develops in the bone marrow).

Haslem’s, mother, Debra Haslem, died in July 2010 from adrenocortical carcinoma (a rare and aggressive cancer that forms in the adrenal cortex).

Haslem’s stepmother, Barbara Wooten, died in December from lung cancer.

“It’s all personal for me,” said Haslem, who retired at the end of the 2022-23 season following a 20-year NBA playing career spent entirely with the Heat. “It’s my priority to get into the fight against cancer and help raise money against cancer, help raise money for clinical trials and testing and just different things. So it’s a part of my journey. I feel like that’s my village now. I feel comfortable within those people.

“When you’re in a situation like myself, it can be kind of lonely. The majority of my friends still have their mother or father or both. So to lose a mother, a father and a stepmother becomes a little bit difficult. But when you’re around other people who have not just fought this disease but have won, it’s encouraging and it gives you strength to want to push forward and raise money and fight against this disease.”

That’s why Haslem takes solace in meeting those who have survived the disease.

“I understand that it’s bigger than just my journey, there are so many people that are fighting this battle,” Haslem added. “If one person can win, then that’s a win for the whole cancer community. So for me, just leaning on that community of people and just being encouraged by the wins that they’re having because it’s a win for the community. ... So I’m encouraged by the people who have won, I’m encouraged by their families coming together, I’m encouraged by the people who have beat it and are here to tell the story and their testimony who have lost so we can stay encouraged.”

Haslem, who was hired in November to be the Heat’s vice president of basketball development just months after his playing career came to an end, has a message for those in the middle of their fight against cancer.

“You can win, man,” Haslem said. “There are people out here winning. There are people out here who have beat this disease more than once. So it is beatable, it is curable. So continue to be encouraged. There are going to be some good days and some bad days, but just know that this disease is not invincible and it can be beat. We’ve seen people beat it, we’ve witnessed people beat it and there’s a large community of people who are fighting for the people that have it now and are battling against it. So you’re not alone.”

Monday’s intrasquad scrimmage marks the start of a busy week for the Heat. Immediately after the scrimmage, the Heat will travel to Charlotte, N.C., to open its five-game preseason schedule on Tuesday against the Hornets before returning to Miami for preseason games against the Atlanta Hawks on Thursday and New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday.

But the Heat’s focus is now on the ““Red, White & Pink Game” and everything it represents. It’s also a night that’s personal for Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, whose oldest son, Santiago, went through and has since recovered from treatments for Burkitt lymphoma.

“It’s important for so many of us,” Spoelstra said. “It’s dear to my family’s heart. With the Heat, we’ve had so many of our family members that have been stricken by this disease. It’s a really inspirational night. We’re able to celebrate the survivors, to celebrate and encourage those that are still in the fight and we want to continue to work to get to the end of this.”

PRESEASON BROADCAST PLANS

The Heat announced that Bally Sports Sun will broadcast its entire five-game preseason schedule, beginning with Tuesday’s preseason opener against the Hornets in Charlotte.

Radio coverage of the Heat’s full five-game preseason schedule can be found on the team’s flagship station in English, AM 560 WQAM and FM 99.2 HD2.

The Heat Radio Network includes ESPN 106.3 FM in West Palm Beach, Southwest Florida’s FOX Sports Radio 105.9 FM and WFSX-HD2 92.5, WSTU 1450 AM in Stuart, and Keys Radio WAVK 97.7 FM “The Wave.”

Information on the regular-season broadcast schedule will be distributed at a later date.