Hassan Whiteside doesn’t ‘have any bitterness toward the Heat’ as he returns to Miami
Hassan Whiteside’s return to AmericanAirlines Arena on Sunday was unusual, both for the feelings it elicited and the motions he had to go through. The star center, who was perennially one of the Heat’s most productive players throughout his time with the team, didn’t know where visiting players were supposed to enter. He had no idea what the visitors’ locker room looked like. Miami was his home for five years — it’s where he grew up as an NBA player, he said — and then it became the home he was excited to leave.
Those five up-and-down seasons came to an end in the offseason when the Heat shipped him off to the Portland Trail Blazers to open the door to sign Jimmy Butler and clear a spot for Bam Adebayo in the starting lineup. There were seasons when he led the league in rebounding or blocked shots, but he also spent his final season in Miami glued to the bench in the fourth quarters and faced wildly fluctuating playing time. On the day he was traded to the Trail Blazers last year, Whiteside didn’t hide his excitement about finding a new home, taking to Instagram to post a video of himself proclaiming, “We got shooters!”
More than five months later, the trade has benefited both the Heat and Whiteside. Miami is one of the league’s surprise contenders. Whiteside is posting All-Star caliber numbers and playing nearly 30 minutes per game for the first time since 2017. He said he understands why his time with the Heat ended how it did, although he wasn’t happy when the crowd turned his, “We got shooters!” into a chant as he shot free throws in the fourth quarter of Miami’s 122-111 win.
“I’m a little disappointed with how the fans reacted, but it is what it is,” Whiteside said. “I don’t understand that. I just said, ‘We got shooters.’ That’s congratulating my team. I didn’t say none of them guys can shoot.”
It was his first time back in South Florida since the trade ended five often-exhilarating, often-underwhelming seasons with the Heat. Before the game, Whiteside said the trade was “totally understandable.”
“We didn’t get it done, so they’re going younger. The older guys are not playing as much. They’re going with the younger group,” Whiteside said. “Them guys are real young, so they’re trying to build something there. ... It’s totally understandable. I’m 30.”
Until the end of his tenure, Whiteside was one of the franchise’s classic success stories. When he came to Miami in 2014, Whiteside’s fresh start was maybe a final opportunity. He was second-round pick by the Sacramento Kings in 2010 and the Kings cut him after he played in just 19 games across two seasons. He spent the next two years out of the NBA, and bounced around foreign leagues and the NBA G League, then the NBA Development League, before the Heat took a chance on him.
Coach Erik Spoelstra still remembers the meeting he had with Whiteside. They spent 90 minutes together in the lounge at the AAA before Spoelstra was sold. The coach went to the rest of the staff and said he wanted to make it work for the talented 7-footer.
“Despite probably what people think, we root for Hassan,” Spoelstra said. “I developed a strong relationship with Hassan because I’ve arguably spent as much time with him as any other player and I love his story. I really do. I love guys that have to overcome something or people discount them.”
Whiteside said he still keeps tabs on Miami, too, even though the team is far different than it was last season. He noted he hasn’t even played with four of the five players in the Heat’s most common starting lineup, and starting post player Meyers Leonard, whom Portland sent to Miami in the trade, actually is renting Whiteside’s old house from the center.
“I should’ve been having somebody go over there and beep their horn,” Whiteside said, “and keep him up.”
He said he appreciates hearing Spoelstra is still rooting for him, too.
“It means a lot. I don’t have any bitterness toward the Heat or anything,” Whiteside said. “Like I said, I grew up, I kind of feel like I became an NBA player here. I feel like I faced the trials and tribulations of the NBA coming here.”
Last month, Whiteside said he felt like people have misconceptions about him from the time he spent in Miami. Fans mostly booed as he was introduced to the crowd and then they cheered raucously when Adebayo was introduced last.
Whiteside didn’t specify what those misconceptions are. He just said there were a lot. Spoelstra hinted at the same sort of misconceptions without diving into any specifics. Their relationship was often rocky, but it’s simply part of the Heat’s past now.
“There are so many narratives out there,” Spoelstra said. “We used to talk about this all the time: It was like we had to weave through all the noise outside just to get what was real face to face, but the thing that I always said about it is Hassan is a good guy. You root for him. He’s a good guy in the locker room. I enjoyed him. Once you get to know him, he’s got a really dynamic, funny personality in a different way. It’s worked out for both sides right now.
“I think he’s really happy there and we feel good about our squad here.”
Injury update
Butler was a late scratch for Miami against the Trail Blazers. The star wing sat out with a back injury.
Justise Winslow also missed his 15th straight game with a lower back bruise. The point forward was upgraded to questionable Saturday before he was ruled out Sunday.
Point guard Daryl Macon and small foward KZ Okpala both remained with G League Sioux Falls despite the Heat’s injuries.
This story was originally published January 5, 2020 at 6:18 PM.
