Is it stats, or winning?
That’s what Whiteside asks after no Heat player is picked as All-Star reserve
MIAMI — The approach for the Miami Heat amid its rise to the No. 4 seed in the NBA’s Eastern Conference has been about collective success.
But center Hassan Whiteside wondered out loud after Wednesday’s practice at American-Airlines Arena what it will take to get more focus on the team’s contributors.
In the wake of the Heat being the only team in the top eight in the Eastern Conference without an All-Star selection, Whiteside was confounded.
“You know, it’s confusing,” he said. “I get confused about it sometimes. Is it about stats? Or is it about winning? Certain guys, they say, ‘Oh, he’s winning. His team’s winning, so we put him on there.’ Other guys, he’s got good stats but his team sucks. So what is it about? I just don’t understand what it’s about.”
Whiteside’s comments came after the seven reserves for the Eastern Conference All-Star Game roster were announced Tuesday.
“We’ve got All-Stars,” he said. “They just didn’t get voted in.”
Whiteside said a lack of national exposure has hurt, with the Heat having only one nationally televised game thus far, on Oct. 25 against the visiting San Antonio Spurs. There has been exposure through the more limited reach of NBA TV.
“It’s got a lot to do with it,” Whiteside said. “The NBA, the NBA pushes teams. The NBA pushes guys. The media pushes people. There’s teams that all got Christmas games that stink, so I’m not going to say what teams, but you all know those teams that shouldn’t be playing on Christmas.”
Among the teams that played on Christmas were the New York Knicks and Los Angeles Lakers.
“We’re going to continue to climb the ladder,” Whiteside said. “The goal wasn’t to make the All-Star team. The goal is to win a championship. We’ve got to start off at the beginning of the playoffs first, and then whatever happens, happens.
“My motivation is to keep Pat Riley and Coach Spo happy. That’s really my motivation to this point.”
Coach Erik Spoelstra also put perspective on the All-Star omissions.
“We’re better in strength in numbers. We’re better with our depth. We’re better when more guys are a threat and more guys are involved,” he said, as the Heat turned their attention to Thursday’s visit by the Sacramento Kings. “That’s just the strength in reality of our team.
“That’s not a knock on it. This is a team sport. That’s the way it should always be. That doesn’t mean we don’t have great players. So we have bigger aspirations than just trying to prove to people that, ‘Hey, we should have had All-Stars.’ “
Forward James Johnson emphasized that perspective.
“We didn’t do nothing yet,” he said of the Heat’s midseason success. “We’re on the right track to going that way, though. I love these guys. It don’t matter about All-Star selections.”
Spoelstra said a case could have been made for guard Goran Dragic or Whiteside.
“Again, I’ve said it before, if we would have played like we have the last six weeks for the entire season, maybe more people would have noticed,” he said. “Hassan, the last few games, probably would have received that kind of recognition. He probably missed too many games anyway. So let’s move on. We have a lot more things to accomplish.”
The organizational hope now is to get guard Wayne Ellington into the 3-point contest during All-Star Weekend.
“We’re hanging in the wind on that one,” Spoelstra said. “But I don’t know how you keep that guy out of it. I don’t know if I should be promoting that because he probably wants the weekend off. But I think it would be a really cool thing to experience at least once in your career.” Ellington is on board. “I feel like I put the work in,” he said. “I’ve never been in it before, so maybe I didn’t put enough work in. But it’s not going to stop anything. I’m going to continue to work my butt off. Whatever happens, happens.”
There also is the chance of firstround pick Bam Adebayo making the Rising Stars Challenge.
“Of course he deserves it,” Whiteside said. “Like I said, is it about winning or is about stats? What’s it about? The guy is a winner.”