Whiteside dropped from ESPN poll of potential All-Stars
The lone player on the current Heat roster to appear in an NBA All-Star Game is Goran Dragic.
MIAMI — A year after citing Hassan Whiteside among NBA players most likely to make their All-Star Game debut, the Miami Heat center was omitted in the annual ESPN poll posted on the network’s website.
A year ago, ESPN ranked Whiteside at No. 7 among players who could make their All-Star Game debut in 2018. Tuesday, after failing to make the 2018 All-Star Game in Los Angeles, Whiteside was not among the 14 players listed, despite ESPN allowing its staff to vote for as many as five selections on each ballot.
The lone player on the current Heat roster to appear in an NBA All-Star Game is Goran Dragic, who made his debut last season as an injury replacement. Dwyane Wade, who is unsigned, has been an All-Star regular almost his entire career.
Whiteside has long expressed a desire to be named an All-Star and was upset when bypassed last season.
In the wake of the Heat being the only team in the top eight in the Eastern Conference without an AllStar selection when the reserves were named in January, Whiteside said, “You know, it’s confusing. 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.
“Yeah, I always felt like that. A lot of people look over Miami.”
The ESPN polling listed in order as most likely to make a 2019 All-Star breakthrough: Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons, Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert, Boston center guard Jaylen Brown, Milwaukee Bucks guard Khris Middleton, Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker, Houston Rockets center Clint Capela, Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum, Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon, Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner, Los Angeles Lakers forward Brandon Ingram and Houston Rockets guard Eric Gordon.
Even with LeBron James relocated from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Western Conference with the Lakers, competition for a frontcourt All-Star berth in the Eastern Conference figures to be tight, with Kawhi Leonard moving East from the San Antonio Spurs to the Toronto Raptors and with Celtics forward Gordon Hayward back from the leg injury that limited him to one appearance last season. In addition, among those mentioned in ESPN’s poll, Simmons, Tatum, Brown, Middleton, Aaron Gordon and Turner all are from the Eastern Conference.
A year ago, in their poll published Aug. 8, 2017, ESPN wrote of Whiteside’s 2018 All-Star chances, “When it comes to All-Star production, Whiteside is already there. He averaged 17 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, just the 13th time anyone has done that for an entire season, but the first time anyone has done it and not made the All-Star team . . . . If he does that again and lifts the Heat into contention in the Eastern Conference, Whiteside could find his way to AllStar Weekend in Los Angeles.”
Instead, Whiteside’s 2017-18 productivity was limited by an early-season knee injury and the addition of big men Bam Adebayo in the draft and Kelly Olynyk in free agency.