Whiteside in demand
Heat center was unaware of Lakers’ interest in him
LOS ANGELES — This is the type of obliviousness the Miami Heat welcome when it comes to center Hassan Whiteside.
With the Heat opening their three-game western swing Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center, Whiteside was asked about the rumors linking him to the Lakers and their $55 million salary-cap stash in free agency with the impending retirement of Kobe Bryant.
“They’ve been talking about me and the Lakers?” Whiteside asked in response. “I didn’t know that.”
While the Lakers aren’t in position to name names when it comes to their offseason plans, the expiring contract of center Roy Hibbert as a one-year rental speaks volumes, as did comments earlier this month from coach Byron Scott.
“I think most players that are free agents probably look at our roster,” Scott said, “and look at our young guys and see if those guys developed over the year and see what their type of potential is before they make a decision.”
The irony is that the Lakers had their own look at Whiteside before the 2014-15 season. That’s what had Whiteside amused that a big-money offer soon could be forthcoming from the Lakers.
“I worked out for the Lakers before I worked out with the Heat,” he said, having joined the Heat early in 2014-15 on the contract he nowis completing. “So, I mean, they’ve seen it. They had a chance to see what I could do.”
Whiteside said he thought he did enough in that session to merit additional inspection.
“I know Byron Scott was there and a couple of other front-office guys,” he said of his Lakers tryout. “Itwas like a two-on-two workout. I did it before I worked out for the Heat. Obviously, they went another direction.
“But I think L.A. knows what I can do.”
The Lakers wound up going smaller, so Whiteside moved on to his next opportunity.
“I think they signed Wayne Ellington instead,” he said of the 3-point-shooting wing now with the Brooklyn Nets. “I thought I had a really good workout. I caught alley oops, spin lobs, kind of did everything I do now.”
Of facing the Lakers with the newfound knowledge that they stand as potential suitors, Whiteside said, “I feel like every game is an audition for anybody.”
But he did acknowledge that visiting Staples Center is more than just another stop on his vindication tour.
“I feel like [Madison Square] Garden and the Staples Center are like the two biggest places to play,” he said. “I feel like those places are just special just because there are so many celebrities and everybody is there.”
The Heat’s three-game trip continues Friday against the Sacramento Kings at Sleep Train Arena, with the Kings having drafted Whiteside and then given up on him after he had brief stints with themin 2010-11 and 2011-12.
But Whiteside said he has moved beyond trying to show the Kings they erred.
“I don’t think it’s just Sacramento,” he said of making statements. “I think it’s every team. I’m always going out there trying to prove something. It ain’t just Sacramento, it’s pretty much every team.”
Considering how much the Kings have evolved, fromtheir coaching staff to their front office to their roster, Whiteside said it isn’t as if there is anyone left tomake a point on front of.
“The only person that I know that was there when I was there was DeMarcus [Cousins],” he said of Sacramento’s All-Star center. “Everybody else is brand new. DeMarcus is the only face that was there when I was there.”
So no, it won’t be a homecoming game or one with particular meaning beyond being the second stop of this three-game trip.
“Nah, not for me,” he said. “I don’t really think that. I just kind of come out there the same way I come out for every game.”