Hassan Whiteside Is Having the Best Rebounding Season in Miami Heat History
Miami Heat big man Hassan Whiteside finished Sunday's 116-113 loss to the Nuggets with 16 points, 12 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. In doing so, he became the first player in Heat history to accumulate 1,000 rebounds in a season, per the Heat's Twitter account.
Whiteside—who's now grabbed 1,011 rebounds—passed Rony Seikaly (934) for the top spot on the Heat's single-season rebounding leaderboards earlier this season. Seikaly played on the Heat during the franchise's first six seasons, averaging 10.4 rebounds per game over that span.
Whiteside is currently averaging a career-high 14.0 boards per contest. As of Monday, he's in a tie with Detroit Pistons center Andre Drummond for the league lead in rebounds per game this season.
In addition to being one of the league's best glass cleaners, Whiteside also ranks fourth in the NBA in blocks per game (2.1) and defensive rating (100.0), as well as being the Heat's second-leading scorer at 16.8 points per game.
The Heat are currently in a tie with the Indiana Pacers for the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. In 10 playoff games last season, Whiteside averaged 12.0 points on 68.1 percent shooting, 10.9 rebounds and 2.8 blocks over 29.1 minutes per game.
If Miami manages another playoff berth, it could mean even bigger numbers for Whiteside in this postseason as the Heat attempt to pull off a first-round upset.
All stats provided by Basketball Reference unless otherwise noted.
