Miami Heat's Hassan Whiteside's NBA Story Only Beginning to Be Told
Twelve appearances into his first stint with the Miami Heat, center Hassan Whiteside has begun looking like a serviceable rotation player for the first time in his still-brief career.
The 25-year-old Marshall product is averaging 5.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per contest, including four consecutive games scoring in double figures—a span in which he's also averaging 3.7 blocks per contest and making 76.2 percent of his field-goal attempts.
In his most recent outing—a 104-90 win against the Los Angeles Clippers on Sunday afternoon—Whiteside tallied 23 points, 16 rebounds, two blocks and two steals. The performance included a double-double by halftime that earned him the right to take Chris Andersen's spot in the starting lineup when the third quarter came around.
"He changed shots down low on defense," teammate Chris Bosh told reporters after the contest. "Got us offensive rebounds, put-backs, dunks, layups, he really did a great job controlling the paint."
Not bad for a former second-round pick who's spent most of his career overseas or on Development League teams.
"It was difficult," he told reporters last week. "I'm really glad the Heat didn't listen to what anyone else had to say. They just gave me a chance, just kinda believed in me when no other team in the NBA would."
And now that belief is being rewarded.
Though his 42.3 percent field-goal rate leaves something to be seriously desired, head coach Erik Spoelstra doesn't exactly have a deep pool of big men to which he can turn—especially with Chris Bosh adopting an increasingly perimeter-oriented role over the last couple of years.
Andersen has filled in admirably as a legitimate rim protector in the middle, but he is 36 years old and only averaging 19.4 minutes per contest. Neither the injured Josh McRoberts nor the 34-year-old Udonis Haslem has the size to alter a whole lot of shots at the rim.
So the organization has a legitimate need for someone like Whiteside. He may not have a wealth of credentials on his side, but that hasn't stopped him from quickly making a name for himself in a locker room that needs all the help it can get.
Needless to say, that locker room appreciates the reinforcements.
"I think he's gonna be good for us," Bosh told reporters earlier this month. "He gives us an extra dynamic as far as rim protection and rebounding. We're gonna challenge him to be better defensively other than just blocking shots as far as being aggressive and stopping the ball. He has to read those situations better, but so far he's doing very well for us."
So well that he's played at least 20 minutes three times since the turn of the year. Not superstar minutes by any means, but a sign his hard work is beginning to yield tangible dividends at the professional level. Great news for Whiteside, but even better news for a team in need of a youth movement.
LeBron James' exit this summer signaled a need to start anew, replacing the veterans who'd typified Miami's supporting cast with a new generation of hungry talent. In turn, team president Pat Riley drafted point guard Shabazz Napier, held on to second-year stretch 5 Justin Hamilton and signed former second-round pick James Ennis for additional depth on the wing.
With only 19 pro games on his resume—all with the Sacramento Kings—Whiteside fits the mold. In fact, 10-time All-Star Dwyane Wade has taken to calling the newest addition a "rookie."
"I call him what I want because I'm a veteran, and that's what we do," the three-time champ told reporters last week.
Besides some good-natured ribbing, Whiteside will also have to contend with big men taking him more seriously. The more he puts himself on the map, the more ready his opponents will be.
One can forgive Clippers center DeAndre Jordan for underestimating his assignment a bit on Sunday.
So for those in need of a late introduction, what exactly should you know about Hassan Whiteside?
The 7-footer was born in North Carolina and attended The Patterson School before suiting up for a lone freshman campaign at Marshall. There he notched the school's first triple-double with a 17-point, 14-rebound and 11-block effort against the Brescia Bearcats—a fitting coming-out party for a guy who'd go on to lead the nation in blocks that season.
After that, the Kings took him with the No. 33 overall selection in the 2010 NBA draft. By November, however, he began his first of several stints with a D-League affiliate, honing still-raw skills one often expects from interior defensive specialists.
He only played in one game as a rookie.
His second season in Sacramento—which included 18 appearances—wasn't a whole lot more eventful. And it certainly wasn't enough to secure a long-term future with the organization. From there, Whiteside spent time in China and Lebanon before finally trying to hitch himself on to the Memphis Grizzlies earlier this season.
That didn't quite work out. But so far, Miami has been an entirely different story.
One that's only beginning to be told.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
