Haslem only Heat player to endure hurricane; used personal bunker

If you've tuned into a Heat game since 2004, you know that Udonis Haslem is a tough dude. He's also lived in Miami long enough to know what to expect during a bad storm.

It's why the lifelong Florida native built a hurricane bunker, and why he decided to stay in Miami while all of his Heat teammates fled to safety ahead of Hurricane Irma.

"I understand," Haslem told the Sun Sentinel's Shandel Richardson. "I grew up in this. It’s not that I don’t respect the power of Mother Nature because I have a tremendous amount of respect for Mother Nature. But I built a bunker, I paid a lot of money for it; I’m going down with my ship."

Originally, Heat shooting guard Rodney McGruder had committed to riding out the storm with Haslem, but with Irma bearing down and the Florida peninsula bracing for destruction, the 26-year-old decided to play it safe.

"Rodney ended up leaving," Haslem told Richardson. "Rodney chickened out. At the last minute he got a flight out. He got a flight out Saturday morning. I was the only one who bunkered it."

Haslem has logged just 390 total minutes over the past two seasons, but he and team icon Dwyane Wade were the only players to contribute to all three of the Heat's championship runs, lifting the Larry O'Brien Trophy in 2006, 2012, and 2013. This coming season will be his 15th in the NBA.