Miami Heat: Believe in Udonis Haslem

Udonis Haslem was the heart and soul of the Miami Heat. 

He epitomized the term "hustle player." He never took a minute off. To do so would be a failure for a man who fought his way from playing in Europe to a starting role with the Miami Heat.

When the Heat put the Big Three together, their next thought was U.D.

"Happy U.D. is staying put in Miami. Wouldn't have felt right if he wasn't a part of this," said LeBron James.

Haslem turned down bigger offers from Denver and Dallas to stay with the Heat. 

"He is our anchor, he is a true warrior and a great professional," said Pat Riley following his signing in July.

But yesterday, everything changed.

When Haslem was charged with felony possession of marijuana, all of his hard work was put on hold.

What the heck is going on here? This is not the Udonis Haslem that Heat fans love, and thought they knew. Haslem had given the Heat, and its fans all he had.

So, now it's time to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Why? Because something is not right about this story.

Problem number one: Haslem was pulled over for having "illegal window tint." All evidence points to this being a "secondary offense," meaning a person can not be pulled over for suspicion of illegal tint. Something is fishy there.

Problem number two: Search number one of Haslem's vehicle yielded no marijuana. For search number two, drug dogs were summoned. Still no marijuana. A third and final search somehow leads to a bag of marijuana being found.

Problem number three: Haslem is charged with felony possession of marijuana, over 20 grams of marijuana. The passenger in the car, whom the marijuana supposedly belonged to, was charged with misdemeanor possession of less than 20 grams of marijuana. If the men are being charged with possessing the same amount of marijuana (how it works when there are multiple people in a vehicle), then why is U.D.'s charge stiffer?

The case will be dropped. The question is, will people forgive and forget?

Even if the guy is smoking a joint a day, it shouldn't matter. Unfortunately, the laws in America say otherwise. But as a fan, there is the opportunity to judge for yourself.

Say Haslem is a habitual smoker. Does that change what he does on the court for the Heat? Does it affect the effort he gives every night? Does it change the fact he turned down millions of dollars to give his all for his hometown team? Does it change what he does for the community?

No. It does not. 

Haslem is going to take a lot of flack for what happened, but that's just because people want another excuse to hate this Miami Heat team. He put himself in a bad situation, and that cannot be changed.

But now Haslem needs the support of Miami. And Heat fans owe him at least that.

Haslem just lost his mother a few weeks ago, so maybe that explains why he might need a little "stress relief."

Let's cut him a break, he doesn't ask for much.