A 40-year-old player of the Miami Heat NBA team, who still gets paid millions despite lack of playing time, is being supported by other players who said more teams should follow suit.

According to Insider, several players say veteran Udonis Haslem serves as mentor to the team. Although outsiders have shown concern for whether Haslem is an asset to the Heat, many have voiced their support over the decision to keep him.

Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said everyone in the locker room understands that Haslem is a great leader who drives a supportive sense of culture across the entire team.

“It's not him just barking that out; it's rolling up his sleeves and developing the next wave of leaders in the Heat culture, and I just think that's been amazing," Spoelstra said.

On JJ Redick's The Old Man and the Three podcast, former NBA player Channing Frye said veterans like Haslem are necessary for a team, calling them “seatbelts.”

"Nobody ever cares that there's seatbelts in a Ferrari, but Udonis Haslem is the seatbelt — if anything goes wrong, he locks them up," Frye said.

He argued seatbelts were important because they ensure a team won’t “go off the rails.”

Reddick, of the Dallas Mavericks, agreed with Frye. He said players like Haslem bring together the various talents on a given team like a puzzle.

“If you don't have that one or two guys to sort of bring everyone together, you're not going to win at the highest level,” Reddick said.

NBA Hall of Famer Kevin Garnett said in his book KG: A to Z that NBA teams need to listen to the older players.

"This is why you talk to OGs. This is why OGs are in your locker room," he wrote. "This is how you get better. You do better by being around better … That's why you always gotta show respect for the OGs — not just in the NBA but in any business."

Spoelstra agrees.

"The young players are going to remember UD for the rest of their entire careers,” Spoelstra said. “But the veteran players, to me, he's had just as much of an impact, developing them, keeping them stable, keeping them growing, and continuing to evolve, and that's from his really incredible guidance that he can reach anybody."

Udonis Haslem

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