Hassan Whiteside is a little angry.
MIAMI — Hassan Whiteside had a simple reply Wednesday for the NBA general managers who excluded him from their poll responses regarding the league’s top center.
“I don’t care what them GM thinks,” the Miami Heat’s shot-blocking big man said after practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. “Four years ago, they didn’t think I could play in this league. I care about what Pat Riley and Coach Spo think.”
In the league’s annual survey, which does not allow executives for vote for players from their own team, Whiteside, despite leading the NBA in rebounding last season, was not among the eight centers named in the responses.
“I’m just killing whatever team they’re on,” he said. “I’ll just keep killing their team.”
Karl-Anthony Towns led in the polling, followed by Anthony Davis, Marc Gasol and DeMarcus Cousins, with Rudy Gobert, Draymond Green, Nikola Jokic and DeAndre Jordan also receiving votes.
Whiteside said he is beyond drawing fuel from such assessments.
“I kind of draw from myself,” he said. “If I listened to everybody around me, I would never have come back from Lebanon, China, being cut four-plus times. I just kind of always draw from myself and that selfwish and I know the player I can be.”
Just as he did with last season’s All-Star voting and polling for Defensive Player of the Year, Whiteside said he has moved beyond disappointment.
“Nah,” he said, “I’m not surprised anymore.”
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said respect will come with a better record than last season’s 41-41 and a better start than last season’s 11-30.
“The only thing you can point to is that nobody saw us play,” he said. “We had such a bad record — we weren’t on TV, no one was watching, nobody cared. People started noticing in the second half, I’ll tell you that.”
Whiteside was among those receiving votes for best defensive player in the GM poll. Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard was the top vote-getter.
Spoelstra placed third in the category of coaches with the best defensive schemes, in a tie with the Steve Kerr and Quin Snyder, behind Gregg Popovich and coach Tom Thibodeau.
Spoelstra was one of four coaches to receive votes as best coach, along with Rick Carlisle, behind Popovich and Kerr.
Spoelstra placed third as best manager/motivator, behind Popovich and Kerr.
In the general managers’ rankings of teams in the Eastern Conference, the Heat tied with the Charlotte Hornets for sixth, behind, in order, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors and Milwaukee Bucks.
The Heat did not receive any votes in the individual position categories.
Touching moment
Khari Peterson, a twotime cancer survivor and friend of Heat forward Udonis Haslem, addressed the team following Wednesday’s practice.
“I’m glad I was able to come out here and motivate them and give them some kind of inspiration about life,” Peterson, 29, said.
“Even though I have my rough days, somebody else is always worse off than you. That’s why I told them it’s bigger than me.” That made Haslem smile. “We didn’t tell him to say, ‘It’s bigger than me,’” he said. “He said that on his own. It’s crazy because that’s been our slogan for the last couple of years, that it’s bigger than me.”
iwinderman@ sunsentinel. com