Whiteside takes a shot; he’s missing from an ad
MIAMI — The reading between the lines continues when it comes to the apparent unease between the Miami Heat and center Hassan Whiteside.
In a post on his Instagram and Snapchat accounts, Whiteside appeared to take a shot at his detractors by uploading a video that showed him converting an outside shot while working out amid a visit with family in North Carolina.
In the video, Whiteside says, “You don’t know I’ve got that jumper. There’s a difference between you ‘can’t’ shoot and you’re ‘not allowed.’”
The Heat, during an uneven playoff performance last month by Whiteside against the Philadelphia 76ers, often opted for outside-shooting big men such as Kelly Olynyk and James Johnson in place of a player previously perceived as their franchise center of the future.
A team spokesman said the Heat were aware of Whiteside’s social-media video post but did not have comment.
Whiteside’s post came days after the Heat unveiled a mural at the new Brightline train station in downtown Miami.
The mural, which is an advertisement for Heat season tickets, features the slogan, “Cut through traffic, finish at the rim.” Next to the “cut through the traffic” portion of the oversized poster is a photo of All-Star guard Goran Dragic. However, next to the portion that reads “finish at the rim” is a photo of rookie center Bam Adebayo.
A team spokesman said Wednesday that the Heat’s basketball operations department was not involved in the selection of the images for the mural.
The Heat in April fined Whiteside a substantial amount for a postgame tirade in the wake of an overtime loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
“Man, it’s annoying,” Whiteside said following that loss at AmericanAirlines Arena, when coach Erik Spoelstra opted for a small lineup against the undersized Nets. “Why we matching up? We got one of the best centers in the league. Why we matching up? A lot of teams don’t have a good center. They’re going to use their strength.
“It’s bull---. It’s really bull---, man. There’s a lot of teams that could use a center. S---. That’s bull---.”
Whiteside has shown range with his outside shooting during his four seasons with the Heat. According to Basketball Reference, 43.4 percent of his shots came within three feet of the rim this season, the lowest such percentage in his tenure with the team. He shot .447 this past season on shots between 3 and 10 feet, .318 on shots between 10 and 16 feet, and .404 on shots beyond 16 feet.
The most telling numbers for Whiteside, though, came in the playoffs, when he was utilized for only 77 minutes over the five games against the 76ers, tying Adebayo for the ninth fewest on the roster.
Trade speculation began even before the close of the season, with Whiteside two years into the four-year, $98 million deal he signed on July 1, 2016. He is due $25.4 million next season as the team’s highest-paid player and then holds a player option for $27 million in 2019-20 on the final year on his contract.
Heat president Pat Riley suggested an intervention with Whiteside and Spoelstra following the season, but there are no indications such a meeting has transpired.
“The disconnect between he and Spo, that’s going to take a discussion between them and it’s going to take thought on the part of coach and also Hassan,” Riley said last month in his seasonending comments. How will Hassan transform his thinking — 99 percent of it — to get the kind of improvement that Spo wants so he can be effective?
“How can Spo transform his thinking when it comes to offense and defense or minutes or whatever? However he uses him, that’s what you do. We go through this almost every year with players. There’s always a disagreement, a change in philosophy or whatever it is.”