When it became official that Chris Bosh would miss the remainder of the 2014-15 season due to blood clots on one of his lungs, it was a pretty scary time. Thankfully, word came out shortly thereafter that Bosh was expected to make a full recovery. With things settled off the court, Udonis Haslem stepped up on the court to help try and fill the void.

Haslem averaged just 12.8 minutes per game up until the All-Star Break, but his minutes went up to 20.5 after that point due to the absence of Bosh. During that span from February 20 to April 15, Haslem averaged 13.7 points and 12.9 rebounds per 100 possessions in 26 games played.

“When I had the opportunity and when I was needed to go out there and play big minutes, I was able to go out there and play big minutes and put up some pretty decent numbers,” Haslem said. “If these guys need me for whatever the situation may be, short minutes, big minutes, I just got to make sure I stay ready.”

Haslem said that his summer regimen is “pretty intense,” so that enables him to always be ready whenever he is needed. While he said that he wants to keep his body strong and strengthen all the things he dinked up during the season, Haslem didn’t share his exact plans for the offseason. However, it’s safe to assume that he will be getting in a lot of work if last summer is any indication.

“[Last summer] I went out…and got a chance to train with a lot of NFL guys, just pushing the sleds and just a lot of different things that I wouldn’t have normally done,” Haslem said. “And I think that definitely contributed to the way I was able to play towards the end of the season.”

Despite having a bunch of different injuries, Haslem fought through them and did all he could to help the team. Along with Hassan Whiteside, Haslem worked tirelessly on the glass and showed lift quite often on some dunks late in the season.

“A lot of things [injuries] that I had were just nagging things: knee, ankle,…” Haslem said. “Nothing that was a serious injury, so I was able to play through most of the things I had to deal with, wrist [too], those things like that.”

While the HEAT missed the postseason for the first time in seven years, they showed resilience all year long despite all the obstacles that were put in their way. In order to have resilience and resolve, you need character, and that is exactly what the co-captain praised Miami for.

“We’ve got some very high-character guys,” Haslem said. “A lot of different guys that came from a lot of different backgrounds that didn’t take the traditional route to the NBA had to come together on this team. Definitely the character was there and that was proven just by guys getting to this point in their careers.”